"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الجزء II. ج. ج. لوريمر. ١٩١٥" [‎٢‎٢‎٢‎٢] (١٢٦٢/٧٣٩)

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water^ and which^ consist of a fine whitish sand overlying coral; it is
believed that a mixture of mud or earthy substance with the sand is detri
mental to the pearl ; and that beds having this defect are liable to
exhaustion.
The oysters are not firmly attached to the bank on which they grow
but either lie loosely on the sand or adhere feebly to pieces of coral or
seaweed. Sometimes they cling together in a mass, called Tabra ^
(plural, Tabari ), and it is said that such concretions are
frequently pearl-bearing, and that the discovery of a single rich Tabri will
frequently make good the failure of a boat during a whole season. *
The pearl oyster, t
The pearl-producing oysters of the Persian Gulf are of three kinds
each yielding mother-of-pearl as we\l as pearls.
The first sort or pearl oyster proper, called in Arabic Mahharah
W ou
(plural, Mahhar ) , is the most prolific source of pearls;
it is found all over the Gulf from a little beneath low water mark down
to a depth of at least 18 fathoms.
The second kind is the Zanniyah (plural, Zanni c< jj); it
occurs chiefly m the waters on the coast between Ras-al-Khaimah and
Ghubbat Ghazirah, where the largest specimens are found, but the finest
in quality are obtained from the banks round the islands of Shaikh
Shu^aib, Hindarabi and Qais; this shell-fish is also common in the
neighbourhood of the islands of A rzanah and Daiyinah. The Zanniyah
is found at the same depths as the M ahharah, chiefly on hard muddy or
shelly bottoms ; but the pearls which it produces are few and of inferior
quality.
The third variety is the Sadaifiyah (plural, Sadaifi )
which occurs chiefly round the islands of Shaikh Shu'aib, Hindarabi and
* In Ceylon waters the oysters generally occur on hard bottoms called paftrs i
but they are also found on sand near paars, generally adhering to one another
or to hard objects such as fragment of dead coral. A bunch of Ceylon oysters may
coneist of 3 to 16 individuals, and as many as 4 generations may be represented is
the same bunch. (Vide Herdman's Report.')
•j" In accordance with general usage the word " oyster " is employed througbcut this
SCr ^ e a P eHr ^"h H aring mollusc, but the term ii not scientificHlly correct.
The Mahharah belongs to the family Aviculidae and is more nearly related to the ^
European mussel than to the European oyster (Ostrea)* The pewl
" oyster' and the mussel both produce a byssus or bundle of tough threads by which
they attach themselves to rock, etc., while the edible oyster has no byssus. According
to ore classification the Mahharah is Meleagrina vulgaris or Marg(i^f era
vulgaris \ the Zanniyah is Meleagrina marg ar it if era var. persica ; an^ the
oadainyah is Avicula macroptera : according to another the Mahhaiah is Melea-
grxna {M org aril if era) vulgaris ; the Zannivah is Avicula macroptera
Kv m i n Mefedgrina {Margaritifera) mar gar it if era See, however, an article
Vvl Yl iS,n oo lT ? roc< ' (!diD g* "f tte Royal Physical Society of Bdiabwgh.
thfi *p rr' " J 161 e 18 ^Pparently considerable difference of opinion regarding
tne correct names of these molluscs. •