Comparatively, juvenile oysters exposed to air were found to have
significantly elevated PO activity for the duration of the experiment.
Few studies have compared the immunological responses of juvenile
and mature bivalves. In 2006, Guenther et al. showed that juvenile
P. fucata fouled significantly less than mature oysters. These authors
suggested that juvenile oysters should be subject to cleaning less frequently
than adults. More recently, Schleder et al. (2008) compared
the immunological activity of both mature and juvenile scallops
(Nodipecten nodosus). Their results showed that PO activity was significantly
higher in juvenile scallops stressed by alkaline conditions
thanmature scallops. These results compliment our current findings.