Eastern oyster aquaculture involves the cultivation of Crassostrea virginica to support coastal economies through sustainable oyster production and to restore the ecological benefits of oyster reefs. Oyster hatcheries play a key role in the industry by producing juvenile oysters for aquaculture and use in restoration projects. Hatchery oyster production is often limited by the number of larvae that successfully undergo metamorphosis into juveniles, referred to as spat, which even under ideal hatchery conditions typically yields only 10-40%. Neurotransmitters, such as epinephrine, can induce metamorphosis in many bivalve species and are utilized to enhance commercial production of select shellfish species. However, the use of chemical inducers to increase spat production in C. virginica has not been well investigated. This project examined the potential use of chemical inducers (i.e., epinephrine, GABA, L-DOPA, lysine, arginine, tryptophan) to enhance C. virginica spat production by increasing metamorphosis at the larval stage. In 1-hour behavioral assays, we observed pediveliger larval behavior (i.e., swimming, foot extension, cilia beating) to determine which chemicals induced larval settlement responses, and their optimal dose. Next, we exposed competent C. virginica pediveligers to the active chemicals at the optimal dose for 48 to 72 hours to measure the percent that metamorphosed and assessed long-term spat survival. Overall, epinephrine and L-DOPA induced larval settlement behaviors but did not increase metamorphosis and spat production. Further research is needed to test additional potential chemical inducers and natural sources of settlement cues that may enhance larval conversion to spat in the hatchery or recruitment to restored reefs in the field.