,SS SEALE. 



rillLIPPINE PEAEL OYSTERS. 



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

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

 shell, Doctor Pilsbury kindly informs me is doubtless Margaritifera 

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

 lip pearl shell, is Mnrijuritlfcra vuirgarUifera (LinMBUs). (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 Si) pesos ^ per picul of 63.3 kilos (139.5 pounds). This 

 shell, when mature, is usually from ISO to 2::I0 millinieteis (7 to 9 inches) 

 in diameter and weighs from 1.82 to 2.:i kilograms (4 to 5 pounds) ; 

 shells weighing more than o kilogi'auis (11 pounds) have been found. 

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

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

 entire Philippine group. 



The black lip shell is a much smaller variety, larely exceeding l."JO or 

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

 (2 to 3 pounds), although usually it is much smallei'. 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 jdeld of pearls which are of comparatively little value, 

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



In the year iSSCi a paper was published in Bergen, Xorway, which 

 contained the following interesting statement regarding the Philippine 

 pearl fisheries : 



The Philippine islands produce great quantities of jieiirl slu'll. In 1877, 155 

 tons were expoitcil. In lUTs, 152 tons, valued at 104,720 pe-os were exported. In 

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

 Tawi-Tawi to Baailan it. 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 tln' shell has a fine luster. Labuan is the chief market. The yield is 

 decreasing. 



It will be of intei'cst to compare tlic above account of the fisheries of 

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

 there were exported from the port of Jolo l-")-l:,9lS kilos (340,820 pounils) 

 of pearl shell, valued at 11!), 04.") pesos; and during the same period the 

 product exported from Zamljoanga was valued at 45,2.34 ]jesos, making a 

 total of 1G4,399 pesos from the j\[oro Province alone, whicli shows a sub- 

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



'Revised Nomenclature of Pearl Oysters. Pror. Zool. Hoc hontloti, (1901), 1, 

 392. 



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



