HABITAT OF THE PEARL OYSTER
mother-of-pearl is abundant on the German East African coast, but the oysters carry few pearls.
Travelling
east, they are next found in large numbers in that arm of the Arabian
Sea known as the Persian Gulf. Here they have existed for many
centuries. The mollusk is of the smaller species and the shells are
known in the market as Lingahs, from the name of the centre of the
pearl trade in this district. The shells are of no commercial
importance.
After
these come the ancient fisheries of India, the most prolific in the
world. The oysters here are smaller than those of the Arabian Sea and
the shells are of no value, but they mature rapidly and yield great
quantities of pearls. Myriads of them cover the shoals and banks
between the coast of India, at the Southeastern point, and Ceylon, and
as the beds are under government supervision, they cannot be destroyed
by the reckless fishing of immature oysters.
Crossing the Bay of Bengal and the Malay
Peninsula, between longitudes 100 and 120
degrees E., there are pearl oysters on the coasts
of China, the Merguian Archipelago and western
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