Ph.D., University of Victoria
Office B8222, (604) 291-4473
fankbone@sfu.ca
Invertebrate Biology 306 Web Site
The Mollusca 471 Web Site
Introductory Biology 100 Web Site
Personal Web Site
CURRENT RESEARCH PROGRAM
The culture of both mabé and free pearls in abalone has been the emphasis of my research since 1987, when I successfully produced a 17mm blister pearl in the pinto abalone Haliotis kamtschatkana. This was the first time that a gem quality marine pearl had been cultured in North America. In the following year, an SFU spinoff company, Pacific Pearl Culture Ltd. was incorporated, and in 1994, a U. S. patent was issued describing half a dozen processes for producing blister and free pearls in abalones and other shell-bearing mollusca. At present, I have ongoing pearl culture experiments on young red abalone Haliotis rufescens at the Monterey Abalone Company in California. These abalones possess nucleus implants which biochemically mimic those biological factors found in situ which are believed to initiate the process of free pearl formation.
During the fall of 1999, one of my patented conventional nucleus implants at the Monterey Abalone Company yielded a Mabé pearl measuring over 44mm in diameter. This pearl is believed to be the largest pearl cultured to date (the Japanese were the previous record holders with a pearl measuring 38.4mm). This very large cultured abalone pearl appears to be a good candidate for a new entry in the Guinness Book of Records.
The history of man's use of pearls as ornament is also of interest to me, and in this regard, I have been examining anthropological collections of Chumash Indian abalone artifacts curated at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Evidence to date suggests that it may be possible to pre-date man's use of abalone pearls to nearly 8000 B.P.
I also continue to be actively engaged in the study of feeding and nutrition mechanisms in marine invertebrates, especially holothuroids, polychaete worms and molluscs endemic to the coastal waters of Washington State and British Columbia. My interest in the relationship between symbiontic zooxanthellae and giant clams has been ongoing for nearly 35 years.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Fankboner, P.V. 2002. Culturing Blister Pearls in Abalones. The Can. Gemmologist, 23(1): 10-21.
Fankboner, P.V. 1994. Process for Producing Pearls in Abalone and Other Shell-bearing Molluska and Nucleus Used Therewith. U.S. Patent No. 5,347,951. 1-25pp. (33 figures; 56 claims).
Fankboner, P.V. 1991. Pearl culture in abalone. INFOFISH Intl., 4: 52-55.
Fankboner, P.V. & J.L. Cameron. 1985. Seasonal atrophy of the visceral organs in a sea cucumber. Can. J. Zool., 63: 2888-2892.
Fankboner, P.V. & R.G.B. Reid. 1981. Mass expulsion of zooxanthellae by heat-stressed reef corals: a source of food for giant clams? Experientia, 37: 251-252.
Fankboner, P.V. 1978. Suspension feeding mechanisms of the armored sea cucumber Psolus chitinoides Clark. J. exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 31: 11-25.
Fankboner, P.V. and M.E. de Burch. 1977. Diurnal exudation of 14C-labelled compounds by the large kelp Macrocystis integrifolia Bory. J. exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 28: 151-162.
Fankboner, P.V. 1971. Intracellular digestion of symbiontic zooxanthellae by host amoebocytes in giant clams (Bivalvia; Tridacnidae), with a note on the nutritional role of the hypertrophied siphonal epidermis. Biol. Bull., 141(2): 222-234.
INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
"PEARLS - A Natural History": An exhibition produced jointly by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, and The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. The exhibit, which covers abalone pearls, displays my 1994 U. S. Patent on culturing pearls in abalone. The display also includes about a dozen preparations of Mabé abalone pearls produced using this technology.
"PEARLS Touring Exhibition" Organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York and The Field Museum, Chicago. The display includes the original copy of my 1994 U. S. Patent on abalone pearl culture and about a dozen preparations of Mabé abalone pearls produced using my patented technology.
This page last updated 12 July 2003.