I have in front of me (pag. 19, "Guides des Coquillages des Antilles") a picture of a necklace made of Strombus gigas pearls ("Perles en lambis, Collection Desjardins, Guadeloupe"); please note that in Gaudeloupe "Lambi" is "Strombus Gigas", not "Lambis"! They are white and pink, not perfectly regular; no explanation in the text. Sandro (from Italy, recently in Guadeloupe) -----Messaggio originale----- >The idea of getting S. gigas to produce pearls seems improbable to me. >Pearls are produced because the oyster cannot (easily?) expel the irritating >nucleus whatever it is. That should be a general weakness of bivalves but >not gastropods which move so much more readily with respect to their shells. >Wouldn't the conch simply expel the irritant? >