Sometimes called White or Silver Lipped Oyster Pinctada is a genus of pearl oysters. These are saltwater clams, marine bivalve mollusks of the genus Pinctada in the family Pteriidae. They have a strong inner shell layer composed of nacre, also known as mother of pearl. All species within the genus Pinctada share the physiological properties that can lead to the production of large pearls of commercial value, and therefore attempts have been made to harvest pearls commercially from many different Pinctada species. This is the largest oyster species that grows up to 20-30cm in diameter. It occurs naturally only in the warm tropical South Pacific waters of the Arafura Sea (off Northern Australia), Eastern and Northern Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Myanmar and Northern Thailand and to the east to Fiji and Tahiti. Pinctada Maxima can be broadly divided into two types based on the color of the shell’s inside, the silver-lipped and the gold-lipped. They are the source of larger White South Sea pearls more than 10 mm in diameter, with some as large as 16-17mm with a weight of 7grams. Australia and Indonesia are the main pearl producers, accounting for over 90% of production between them. White South Sea pearls are also produced in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Amami-Oshima Islands of Japan. White South Sea pearls have thick nacre and many gorgeous hues like silver white, pink and gold.