One Theory of the Origin of the "Pearl of the Pacific"

During our most recent time in Mazatlán we visited the Centro de Innovación Cultura Mazatlán (Mazatlán Culture Innovation Centre) situated in Centro, very near the Machado, at what I understand is the former location of the old Banco Occidental de México...

CICMA is great place to visit to learn about historic and ongoing Mazatlán culture. My discussion here results from one of the exhibits I saw there regarding the origin of Mazatlan's nickname, "The Pearl of the Pacific".

Mazatlán has long been known as the "Pearl of the Pacific" (see the vintage postcard above), but many other Latin-american locations along the eastern Pacific coast have also adopted the term: Acapulco - Mexico, Puntarenas - Costa Rica, Callao - Peru, and Valparaíso - Chile among others. The difference is, while those locations have used the nickname primarily to convey the good vibes of their cities, Mazatlán's use of the term goes beyond the obvious good vibes, because there is a more concrete and reality-based reason for calling the city "La Perla del Pacífico".

One day in 1856, a conchologist (specialist in the study of mollusc shells) named Sylvannus Charles Thorp Hanley, was exploring along a Pacific coastal area, in near proximity to Mazatlán, when he came across a mollusc shell that he did not recognize. After further study of more specimens, he determined that it was indeed a previously un-described species of the genus Pinctada: a genus of bivalve mollusks (family Pteriidae) comprised of pearl oysters.The genus name "Pinctada" comes from the Latin words pinctus, meaning "painted" or "speckled", and ad, meaning "toward", referring to the often colorful and patterned shells of pearl oysters. The scientific convention for naming new members (species) of a genus uses the generic name combined with a specific name unique to the species. Often the specific name is derived from the locality where the new species was discovered (i.e., the "type locality"). Hanley chose the name "Pinctada mazatlania" for his newly discovered species. The specific name "mazatlanica" is a Latin adjective derived from Hanley's type locality, Mazatlán.

Prior to Hanley identifying Pinctada mazatlania, the presence of mother-of-pearl oysters in the Gulf of California (including another species, later identified as the Pacific wing-oyster) was already known and had spawned a thriving pearl fishing industry since the arrival of Hernando Cortez in 1535 (before the oysters where scientifically differentiated and named). The industry lasted until 1940, when the fishery, owing to over-exploitation of the oyster population, was banned (and continues to be banned) by Mexico. During the time after Hanley made his discovery, Pinctada mazatlania acquired the common name "Mazatlan pearl oyster" among oyster fishermen, and the city of Mazatlán was consequently forever invested as the true "Pearl of the Pacific".

So, as news reporter Paul Harvey used to say (as remembered by us older folks), "Now you know the rest of the story!"