Pearls are made by marine oysters and freshwater mussels as a natural defence against an irritant such as a parasite entering their shell or damage to their fragile body. The oyster or mussel slowly ...

A lake in northeastern Japan's Aomori Prefecture has begun its freshwater-clam harvesting season. About 150 boats left the port of Lake Jusanko early Thursday morning to harvest the shellfish ...

The Pinctada maxima oyster can take up to five years to produce a single South Sea pearl, whereas more common freshwater oysters can take as little as three months and create dozens of pearls.

As part of the zoo’s ‘I Am Important! I Am Protected’ public campaign for freshwater mussels, the Clam Counter citizen science app, for freshwater mussel identification and reporting, was officially ...