Study of a Crab Pearl

by Kevin
(Juneau, AK)

A coworker found a pearl inside the joint of a Dungeness crab arm and brought it in to show us. We cut it in half using a saw and there was a beautiful banding pattern inside (like some of the images we found of cut pearls). We started to wonder whether anyone has tried seeding crabs to get them to grow pearls or cutting them like we did. Also, if anyone knows of a text-book or publication that refers to these, I would love to read them. We are currently looking at red king, Tanner, snow, and Dungeness crab and would love to find more of these pearls.