Why are oysters the only mollusk that can make pearls?

Answer 1

Actually oysters are not the only mollusks that can produce pearls. Any bivalve mollusc, such as clams, mussels, cockles, etc. can make a pearl. However most of these pearls are not vaulable. The mantle of the animal creates the pearl. It also creates the shell. Therefore the exterior of a pearl will have the same appearance as the interior of the shell. Pearl oysters (not the kind of oysters we eat) have a highly glossy, iridescent interior. Therefore pearls which they produce are likewise highly glossy and iridescent, which is what gives them their value. A pearl from an ordinary edible oyster would just be dull white, with no gloss at all, because that's what the interior of an edible oyster's shell looks like. Fresh water mussels produce semiprecious pearls because their shells do have a "pearly" interior, though not as "pearly" as that of a pearl oyster.

Answer 2

No. Although pearls from oysters are the biggest and most valuable, all mollusks are capable of producing pearls. I have two 35mm film containers full of pearls from various mollusks. Although these pearls are tiny, they are in fact pearls. Of all the mollusks mussels make the most pearls. Sometimes you can find more than one in a single mussel.

Answer 3

They're not, it's just that thier pearls are really nice, others look like dirty bits of wheet. I think they're bi-valves.

Answer 4

cause that's the way God wanted it!