The period immediately following mantle excision is presumably when pearl oysters are more susceptible to mortality. However, despite a significant loss of body (mantle) tissue, the healing process was quick enough to contain haemorrhaging and avoid death. Following excision, the mantle border of P. fucata, at both ends of the wound, rolled inwards towards the centre of the wound. This process reduced the size of the wound and possibly contained haemorrhaging resulting from the severed pallial artery. Hodgson (1982) reported a similar pattern during siphon regeneration in S. plana where the lesion width was reduced by muscular action, which provided the siphon with a mechanical seal to prevent blood loss. Similarly, the first reaction of M. balthica to severing of the tip of the siphon was contraction of the muscles close to the wound to prevent loss of haemolymph (Pekkarinen, 1994). The rolling of the mantle border of P. fucata observed in this study may also be a muscular response to contain haemorrhage and reduce the size of the wound which could then be sealed more rapidly using smaller numbers of haemocytes and less connective tissue. Further studies on the wound sealing process in pearl oysters, immediately following mantle excision, are required for a greater understanding of this process.