Page 65 - Animals of the Sakhalin Region in myths and legends

Pearl mussel, Zatravkina

(Kurilinaia zatravkini)

The shell is oblong-oval, swollen, strong.
The anterior margin is sharply rounded,
merging smoothly into the ventral margin.
The wing is down. The posterior margin
of the shell is sharpened in the lower part,
smoothly passing into the slightly curved
ventral margin. The tops of the head are
weakly protruding. The growth lines are
clear. The front teeth are notched, massive,
pyramidal, the back ones are in the form of
rudimentary ridges. The mother-of-pearl is
white with oily spots in the primacal region.
Inhabits the waters of the islands of the
Great Kuril ridge, middle and southern
Sakhalin. Outside the Russian Federation —
Hokkaido and Honshu (Japan).

Once a raindrop, leaving a thundercloud and falling into the
waters of the Ocean, declared its insignificance in comparison with
it. The ocean appreciated her modesty. He preserved her, preserved

the color of the rainbow in her and said that from now on she
would be the most precious of the treasures, she would command
the sea and even the woman. After these words, he turned the drop
into a pearl.

63