Dan Burton / Fisherman with Common oyster catch {Ostrea edulis} Falmouth, Devon, UK.

Peter Scoones / Oysters covered with encrusting sponge {Ostreidae} Andaman sea, Thailand

Francis Abbott / Persian gulf pearl oyster {Pinctada radiata} Bahrain

Jose B. Ruiz / Common oyster on seabed {Ostrea edulis} Mediterranean

Roberto Rinaldi / Display of delicious food in Trattoria Gatto Nero, Burano, Italy.

Roberto Rinaldi / Display of delicious food in Trattoria Gatto Nero, Burano, Italy.

Roberto Rinaldi / Black lipped pearl oyster (Pinctada margaritifera) lines in a pearl farm with two people on the surface, Polynesia.

Roberto Rinaldi / Wreck, now an artificial reef, with sponges, oysters and sea fans. Kudat, Borneo.

Roberto Rinaldi / Honeycomb / Zigzag oyster (Hyotissa hyotis) on Ka-Hing wreck, north Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia.

Roberto Rinaldi / Black lipped pearl oyster (Pinctada margaritifera) that produces the Polynesian black pearl, French Polynesia.

Roberto Rinaldi / Underside of a boat on the surface with giant blacklipped oyster (Pinctada margaritifera) lattices submerged, Polynesia

Roberto Rinaldi / Farmers monitoring the giant blacklipped oyster (Pinctada margaritifera) lines in a pearl farm, Polynesia

Roberto Rinaldi / A black pearl sitting in a freshly opened oyster shell. The Polynesian black pearl is created only by the Giant blacklipped oyster (Pinctada margaritifera), which thrives in the Tuamotu lagoons, Frenc...

Sue Daly / Common oyster cultivation {Ostrea edulis} Jersey, Channel Isles

Juergen Freund / Oyster {Lophia folium} Philippines

Erwan Quéméré / Bisquine La Granvillaise. The bisquines were over-canvassed speedy fishing boats used as trawlers to drag oysters off the coasts of Cancale and Granville, France.