Pearl oysters are usually sacrificed to donate mantle tissue for pearl production. However, if oysters are anaesthetized, they are able to survive mantle excision and regenerate this tissue. Mantle excision causes a large wound and severs the pallial artery that necessitates rapid wound repair to avoid death by bleeding. This study was undertaken to assess the wound healing process in the mantle of the Akoya pearl oyster, Pinctada fucata, following mantle excision. Forty-seven P. fucata were relaxed with 2.5 mL L(-1) propylene phenoxetol before mantle tissue was excised. Oysters were relaxed and sacrificed 1, 3, 6, 12, 25, 36, 48, 66, 80 and 105 h after excision to assess mantle healing using histological techniques. Muscular contraction that effectively reduced the size of the wound was observed within 1 h after mantle excision. Accumulation of haemocytes and connective tissue occurred 3-6 h after excision and wound plugging was achieved within 6 h of excision. Proliferation of epithelial cells to cover the wound site was observed within the first 25 h after mantle excision and growth of connective tissue and formation of the pallial artery were observed within 105 h after mantle excision.