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pearl oyster

noun

Definition of pearl oyster

: any of several large marine bivalve mollusks of the genera Avicula and Pinctada (especially P. margaritifera) that often produce pearls, differ from the ordinary oyster in having a byssus, and are found chiefly in the East Indies (as at Sri Lanka), in the Persian Gulf, on the northern coasts of Australia, and on the Pacific coast of America

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