The technique was adapted for mussels by Haruo Sakai, celebrated fw cultivation pioneer and teacher to many, including our most informative Japan freshwater pearl supplier, Kazuhisa Yanase. It requires that nuclei be pre-drilled.
A tapered tool is used, of a size that allows the tip to protrude a few mm from the shell bead. The active mantle tissue graft is then impaled on that tip, active side facing the bead, and the entire assembly inserted through an incision in the body covering to the “sweet spot” where the mussel will survive and a large round pearl will grow. Only the action of withdrawing the spike affixes the mantle graft securely enough to the bead nucleus.
