PEARL CULTIVATION

It is culturing of pearl oysters for pearl production.

It involve,
• Reading of pearl
• Seeding them with pearl nucleus
• Inducing them for pearl secretion
Mostly cultured species – pinctada fucata
Procedures of production of culture pearl

1.Collection and preparation of host

2.Preparation for nucleus insertion
3.Nucleus implantation
4.Post-operation care
5.Post operation culture
6.Collection of harvesting of pearl
1.Collection and preparation of host

• Healthy and adult oysters

• Preferable above 45mm size
• Collect from natural pearl beds or from culture system
•After collecting and selecting of oyster it placed in specially made cages
and immersed in 6-8m deep sea water for 20-30 days
• This is to acclimatize them with the controlled conditions with in the
cages
•The oyster this conditioned are taken out for the insertion of nucleus
2.Preparation for nucleus insertion -3
processes

(a)Preparation of graft tissue

•Graft tissue – a piece of the mantle epithelium from a donor oyster .it is
used to wrap the nucleus before implantation
•During the implantation of nucleus. it is grafted or transplanted to a
recipient oyster
•The graft tissue is taken from a healthy donor
•The donor is opened carefully and its mantle is removed
•The dirt and mucus on the mantle are removed using the bunt edge of
scalpel
•A 2-3 cm wide strip is then cut out from the pallial zone of the mantle
•The strip is then cut into 2-3mm squares. these mantle are kept in
filtered and sterilized sea water
•It is better to use the graft tissue with in 10-15 minutes after preparation
Preparation of graft tissue
(b)Preparation of nucleus

• Nucleus is a foreign particle which can irritate and induce the oyster to
secrete pearl material around it
•The nacreous layer of the shell used for the preparation of nucleus
•The shell made in to small spherical beads
• it polish slightly
(c)Opening of the Shell

• Reception oyster are selected

• Placed in plastic basin with the dorsal hinge portion of their shell turned
down words
• Sea water is then slowly poured into the basin fully immersing the oyster
• A little amount of mentor powder may be sprinkled over the water to
narcotize the oyster
• A shell valves start to open in a few minutes
• A wooden plug is then placed between the valves
• The oyster are ready for the implantation of nucleus
NUCLEAR IMPLANTATION
Nucleus enclosed in a graft tissue is implanted into the recipient oyster
which is to be completed in a duration of 30 minutes
Three common Methods
1.Extra-Pallial /Extra-Mantle Implantation
2.Intra-Pallial/Intra-Mantle/Mantle tissue implantation
3.Gonadial Implantation
1.EXTRA-PALLIAL/EXTRA -
MANTLE IMPLANTATION

Graft is inserted into the space between the shell and the
mantle, which stimulates the gland cells of the pallial
epithelium to secrete pearl.
2.INTRA-PALLIAL/INTRA-MANTLE/
MANTLE-TISSUE IMPLANTATION

Graft is inserted into the pallial tissue by making an incision in

the mantle.
3.GONADIAL IMPLANTATION
Gonod- best site for nucleus insertion because of the high rate of pearl
secretion.
For this:-
a) Conditioned oyster mounted on a stand
b) Sharp incision made on the gonod.
c) Graft mantle tissue bag with nucleus is inserted into gonod, which
stimulates gonadial cells to secrete pearl around the nucleus.
(a) (b) (c)
POST OPERATION CARE

• Oysters kept in sea water for recovering the effect of menthol.

• Water changed periodically ,or steady water flow provided
• After 30-60 minutes they are placed in nylon baskets and hung in large
tanks of sea water for few days
• Kept under observation
• Diseased once and those rejecting nuclei are discarded
• Others recover from operation shock and repair injuries
• Afterwords, placed in culture.cages of 40,40,10 cm size and transferred
to farm
POST OPERATION CULTURE

• Healthy and nuclear implanted oysters are farmed by raft culture or

longline culture method.
• After few months, oysters are X -rayed to check the presence of pearls.
• clean ,calm sheltered and 5-10 m deep bays yield good quality pearls .
• The duration of post-operation culture depends on the size of the
nucleus implanted, water, temparature,food etc....
Raft Culture
Longline Culture
COLLECTION OR HARVESTING OF
PEARLS

• On attainment of full growth and size , oysters are brought ashore and
killed
• Shells are removed
• Partially decomposed body is washed repeatedly
• Pearls will settle down at the bottom of the container
• They are collected and sorted based on size and quality
CONCLUSION

pearl farming in india holds a large scope for farmes that are looking for
something big unique and productive in the current scenario.
The demand of pearls is imitless.In the international market there is a
consistent growth in the demand for pearls giving wings to the pearl
farming business in india