[Caitlin]

I sence that the experts in this field are not on this forum or they are not willing to share

Hi K2B
You post two days ago and have already concluded that 1. there are no experts on nucleation here and/or 2. these experts don't want to teach you because they haven't come rushing to answer your posts.

Pardon me, but that is assuming a lot. We have a lot of experts in nucleating on this forum. We have experts in sea mollusks ans at least one advanced student in nucleating fw mussels. It is up to you to find them, read their posts and then ask questions, don't you agree?

[Slraep]

Originally Posted by kb2rocket

......and these mollusks would be sold and die even if I did nothing if it were not for experiments the cultured pearl would not exsist at all

Yeah, and if nothing were done about commercial cows, they would just breed and breed and eventually die of starvation for lack of pastureland. So we'd better kill and eat them. Beef Stroganoff would have never existed otherwise. Duh.

Sheesh, I am really, really regretting that I answered this thread. Bad typing fingers! Bad! Bad!

Slraep

[jshepherd]

There is a link somewhere on this forum to a very comprehensive manual on pearl farming. I think it was originally posted by the master-fabricator Zeide Erskine. I just looked, but I cannot seem to find it. I am sure someone else will.

This video on Youtube shows the process of nucleating akoya shells. This is not something I would suggest anyone 'try' as it will be a complete waste of time. This takes years of hands-on practice to perfect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmC_kxvS334
This video on Youtube shows the process of nucleating freshwater shells. Freshwater mussel grafting is a much easier operation and most technicians can master it in about a week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uXeSb7i5X0

In order to learn how to nucleate you will have to learn about the anatomy of the shell you plan to work on, and you will need someone to show you exactly how it is done. It is really not a simple matter and not one you are going to be able to learn from a book.

[Caitlin]

I found the pearl culturing article and made it a sticky in the "pearl book s and resources" thread.

[knotty panda]

Originally Posted by Slraep

Yeah, and if nothing were done about commercial cows, they would just breed and breed and eventually die of starvation for lack of pastureland. So we'd better kill and eat them. Beef Stroganoff would have never existed otherwise. Duh.

Sheesh, I am really, really regretting that I answered this thread. Bad typing fingers! Bad! Bad!

Slraep

You go girl! And to you molluscs who are about to have your gonads experimented on painlessly, we are so sorry. Slraep, you gave me the courage to say what I've wanted to say from the beginning ... some of us LIKE rejection by-products and want to keep them around as along as they will have us.

[Raisondetre]

To be honest, I think a more worthwhile research project is to learn to nucleate with mantle only in traditionally bead-nucleated types. I'm sure the molluscs would be much more comfortable this way. The donor tissue would still be from a dead mollusc though. But I don't really see the point of replying to this thread any further given that the poster is not open to constructive feedback.

[kb2rocket]

Originally Posted by Raisondetre

To be honest, I think a more worthwhile research project is to learn to nucleate with mantle only in traditionally bead-nucleated types. I'm sure the molluscs would be much more comfortable this way.

this is actualy a very good point it wont net me the end results I seek but from a beginers stand point it is a more logical way to start
.
the first part of this large undertaking will be to just keep one of these animals healthy in a large aquarium. way before I become a surgen I must be a fabracator chemist and understand food requirments lighting substraight material behavior water temp. and depth and much more
.
I do have local waters near by but the salinity is ever changing
and thats not a good thing
.
when I finaly attempt the implants I will post ALL the results good or bad
thank you all for your input I would really like to see those u tube video's but I am using a webtv web browser and its not compatable
.
I may as well tell you what mollusk I plan on using but I fear your responces be kind
.
its the quahog clam
I work with the man that found a purple pearl in his steamed clams that made national news
.
and I became interested in learning all I could about pearls I understand this is not a true pearl by definition but it is interesting so now you know what I ment when I said the mollusks (CLAMS) I buy will end up in a resturant if I dont buy them either way they are doomed
so thats the Idea cultured quahog pearls I only have one secret left LOL I hope I can keep it
.
what are they worth? no one really knows yet but I am pretty sure no one is trying to get clutured pearls from them its way easyer to just sell them as food
.
ok blast away I can take it
P.S. please do not move this thread to the "other pearl section" this thread is about nucleus implants Im not ready to join the purple pearl hoopla just yet
Thanks

[salem]

Now you have me thinking...Beef Stroganoff....mmmmmm...makes me hungry.

[GemGeek]

I like melo-melo and conch pearls, but I am not wild about the clam pearls. The colors just don't do much for me, but I'm happy for the luck of the people who found them. I'm interested to see what your experiment yields.

Good Luck

[kb2rocket]

yes they are not that great looking in my opinion either but they are easy to obtain and if I wanted to expand our local waters will support them

[jshepherd]

You are working with the man that found the purple pearl in the plate of steamed clams? Does he know that the $25,000 valuation is bogus yet?

Matlins was quoted in another article with a quotation in the $1,000 to $1,500 range. I guess that is possible. But I would consider that possible high retail.

Now I think we should address the issue of molluscs and pain. This is a subject that I debate about and explain to a lot of people as I work closely with several animal rescue groups around the LA area.

Bivalve molluscs are sensitive to some things. They are sensitive to light, for example. This is because they have what is known as a simple nervous system. This is composed of ganglions that are in within their foot.

Ganglions are tissue masses that connect different neurological parts of living beings. But the ganglions in bivalve molluscs lack the sensory cells for chemical and mechanical sensation.

Basically, any reaction a mollusc has to anything in its environment is reflex. Molluscs have no central nervous system. They have no brain. They can feel no pain. They cannot be happy. They cannot be sad. They have no consciousness of their own existence, and they do not know when they die.

By grafting or nucleating a mollucs a pearl farmer is causing a reflex reaction within the shell. Is it damaging to the shell? Of course it is. But is it causing pain? No.

[kb2rocket]

Mr.Sheperd I hope you are correct inflicting pain is not something I enjoy so this is great news for me and the clams
.
also today I found a clam farmer that is willing to care for the seeded clams once I learn how to nucleate them
.
today this project just got 50% easyer for me
.
now the quest for training
.
about the pearl that was found I am not involved with that transaction in any way . we talk about it but thats all I cannot share any details I dont want to mess anything up or get anyone mad at me

[Slraep]

About a hundred or so years ago, dogs were used for horrible experiments by a famous surgeon/scientist(gotta remember his name)with the declaration that they did not feel pain.

Only a couple of years ago, it was thought that shellfish like prawns, lobsters and crabs felt no pain, even when dropped into boiling water.

I don't need to mention that the info in my first paragraph has been disproved, but late last year, Prof. Robert Elwood, an expert in animal behaviour who led a study on shellfish now published in New Science magazine, said a prawn's reaction was 'consistent with an interpretation of pain experience'. He also asks, "Do crabs not have vision because they lack the visual centres of humans?'

So saying that "NO", molluscs absolutely do not feel pain because they do not have anything that resembles a vertebrate's brain is not exactly true. How far down the evolutionary scale will we eventually end up going after previous "it feels no pain" declarations get disproved? Anyway, bivalves are next on the list.

Slraep

[Caitlin]

You will be the first ever to culture in a clam.

Let me add one thing. I read somewhere (and I read everything I can find on quahog pearls), that they have a slick but brittle crust and are not solid non-nacreous material inside, but some kind of gummy stuff. this is why people say don't let the shell get pierced by the prongs in the jewelry. It is also why at least one person put his clam pearl in a bottle. They are pretty, but it is hard to make good, long lasting jewelry with them. The large ones that got all the hype were set in a brooch but it doesn't have prongs holding it in.

I am not sure the effort will be worth the work. There has to be a reason (beside the non-nacreous results) why no one has tried culturing in clams.......

Did you know that there are freshwater mussels in America that have nacreous purple pearls? I mean iridescent PURPLE (see below.) That shell color s the color of their pearls-not the lavender greeny gold we see in Chinese FW pearls. Mussels thrive in indoor tanks or outdoor tanks.

They (mollusks) may not have brains and nervous systems, but they have a kind of mussel consciousness group mind. Did you know they sing together? They do it with their shells, since they don't have throats either...........They can sound happy or sad. Seriously.

[Slraep]

Originally Posted by kb2rocket

and I became interested in learning all I could about pearls I understand this is not a true pearl by definition but it is interesting so now you know what I ment when I said the mollusks (CLAMS) I buy will end up in a resturant if I dont buy them either way they are doomed

No they are not doomed. I don't think you realize that for every quahog you eat or buy for "hobby" use, it will be replaced by another one. If you don't eat it or "hobby" experiment on it, there will be one less demand for a commercial/wild quahog.

That's why no one should buy a lobster to free it. It will just be replaced. The best is not to buy it---the demand will dwindle.

Everyone check out these supermarket renegades. Who say's shellfish have no brain? Prison break!

http://www.itchmo.com/lobsters-escap...permarket-3611

Slraep