We have millions of bivalve mollusc specimens in our collection. In some of them, we can see the pearls being formed inside the shell.
Perhaps the most interesting and precious to us is this one here, donated to the Museum in 1886. What we have here is an oyster shell with a pearlfish trapped inside.
Pearlfish are known to hide inside clams and oysters for protection. This one got stuck inside the oyster and died.
Over time the oyster covers the fish in layers of mother-of-pearl, this process probably took around five years to happen. This is not a traditional shape for a pearl, but it's certainly precious to us.
