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Bi-valve mollusks are filter feeders, sucking water in with
their valves, extracting minute food particles from the water
then ejecting the water out. Their diet consists of ‘Phytoplankton’,
microscopic algae, these algae differ according to season. In
the Gulf of California the blue- green algae called ‘Cyanophites’
are abundant in winter, but in summer a golden algae called
‘Diatoms’ are more common. These different ‘Phytoplanktons’
provide the mollusk’s binding protein, conchiolin, with materials
that change the pigment of the Pearl’s nacre. |