Indeed, pearls from freshwater mussels lie at the center of the liveliest activity in pearling today. Natural freshwater pearls occur in mussels for the same reason that saltwater pearls occur in ...

Before the development of plastic, buttons were made from mussel shells. Freshwater pearls are still cultured by inserting small pieces of native mussel shell into oysters. Mussels are fascinating ...

About 200 years ago pearl mussels were harvested for, as the name suggests, pearls. However, the name can mislead - only about one per cent of them contain this hidden 'treasure' (and most of ...

Pearls are made by marine oysters and freshwater mussels as a natural defence against an irritant such as a parasite entering their shell or damage to their fragile body. The oyster or mussel slowly ...

Only oysters of the Ostreidae family can make pearls, but many other types of mollusks can produce these gems, such as ...

NatureScot claims that it is “leading efforts” to conserve the freshwater pearl mussel, which it describes as “on the brink of extinction”. Scotland is home to half the population of the ...

Saltwater pearls come from oysters, while freshwater pearls like the Abernathy are found in freshwater mussels. Although the sale of this pearl known as "Little Willie" is now making headlines ...

In November of 2023, we posted an article that examined the possibilities of restoring freshwater mussels (of the family Unionidae) to the Niagara River. The article, originally posted by Jackie ...