To estimate oyster quality, condition indexes (CI) at the end of the trials were calculated following the equation by Lawrence and Scott (1982). All measurements were made in grams. Briefly,oysters were thawed and whole wet weight (WWW) was
measured. Soft tissue was removed and dried at 80 C for 48 h, then weighed as dry tissue weight (DTW). Dried shells were air dried for 48 h and weighed as dry shell weight (DSW). Calculations of condition indexes were: CI ¼ DTW/(WWW DSW) 100.