88 



PHILIPPINE PEARL OTSTEKS. 



There are two varieties of pearl oysters in the Philippines which are 

 of considerable commercial importance: One, called the gold lip pearl 

 shell, Doctor Pilsburj' kindly informs me is doubtless Margaritifera 

 maxima Jamson ^ (see Plate III, figs. 1 and 2) ; the other, the black 

 lip pearl shell, is Margaritifera margaritifera (Linn^us). (See Plate 

 IV, figs. 1 and 2.) The gold lip shell is by far the most important, it 

 being the variety chiefly sought in commercial ventures, its market value 

 being from 30 to 80 pesos .^ per picul of 63.3 kilos (139.5 pounds). This 

 shell, when mature, is usually from 180 to 230 millimeters (7 to 9 inches) 

 in diameter and weighs from 1.82 to 2.3 kilograms (4 to 5 pounds) ; 

 shells weighing more than 5 kilograms (11 pounds) have been found. 

 This species occurs in waters of from 5 to 20 fathoms throughout the 

 Sulu Archipelago, and is probably more or less abundant throughout the 

 entire Philippine group. 



The black lip shell is a much smaller varietj', rarely exceeding 150 or 

 180 millimeters (6 or 7 inches), with a weight of from 1 to 1.5 kilograms 

 (2 to 3 pounds), although usually it is much smaller. It is common 

 along the shores of almost all the islands of the Philippine Archipelago, 

 and is of much less value commercially than the gold lip shell, being 

 in but little demand and selling for about 13 pesos per picul. This form 

 usually gives a large yield of pearls which are of comparatively little value, 

 as they generally are small, irregular in shape and of a gray or dusky color. 



In the year 1886 a paper was published in Bergen, ISTorway, which 

 contained the following interesting statement regarding the Philippine 

 pearl fisheries : 



The Philippine Islands produce gi'eat' quantities of pearl shell. In 1877, 155 

 tons were exported. In 1878, 152 tons, valued at 164,720 pesos were e.xported. In 

 1879 the value of exported pearl shell was 155,802 pesos. The entire region from 

 Tawi-Tawi to Basilan is a continuous pearl oyster bed; the Sulu fisheries are the 

 largest and most productive of any in the East Asiatic waters. The pearls are 

 famous, and the shell has a fine luster. Labuan is the chief market. The yield is 

 decreasing. 



It will be of interest to compare the above account of the fisheries of 

 thirty years ago with those of the present time. During the year 1907 

 there were exported from the port of Jolo 154,918 kilos (340,820 pounds) 

 of pearl shell, valued at 119,045 pesos; and during the same period the 

 product exported from Zamboanga was valued at 45,254 pesos, making a 

 total of 164,399 pesos from the Moro Province alone, which shows a sub- 

 stantial increase rather than a decline in the fisheries. The above value 



^Revised Nomenclature of Pearl Oysters. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, (1901), 1, 

 392. 



' One peso equals fifty cents U. S. currency. 



