Hard clam aquaculture is largely inhibited by the time investment required for animals to reach market size compared to other cultured bivalves. M. mercenaria juveniles are held minimally in nursery systems for 3 months prior to field deployment, where it will take an additional 2-3 years to reach the earliest market size. For species such as the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), juveniles can be field deployed from nursery settings as early as 6 weeks of age and reach market size at 2 years of age. Triploid C. virginica produced from tetraploids reach market size up to half a year earlier due to faster growth. In order to explore if tetraploid clams can be produced and if triploid clams would receive the same growth benefit, an experiment was performed to inhibit the release of polar body I in fertilized eggs, which is known to produce both tetraploids and triploids. Approximately 6 minutes post-fertilization, cytochalasin B was added at 1 mg/L to the fertilized eggs for about 15 min. This process was repeated across 4 separate spawns. Additionally, 8 spawns were conducted separately as untreated diploid controls. Modified groups exhibited significantly reduced larval survival and growth when compared to the controls. Across the ploidy modified spawns, juvenile triploid induction ranged from 10-68% determined via flow cytometry, and no tetraploids were observed among the polyploidy clams per group sampled. Additional sampling and measurements will be conducted to determine relative nursery and field performance of triploids and if any induction of tetraploids was achieved.