Biomarkers are generally applied to detect pollution in environmental monitoring. Such biological responses should accurately reflect the stress over time in a quantitative manner. As such, the initial and maximum responses induced by stress, as well as adaptation and recovery of these biomarkers, need to be fully understood or else erroneous false-negative or false-positive may be arrived. However, most of the biomarker studies only provided information on initially induced responses under different concentrations of toxicants, while biological adaptation and recovery were poorly known. In this study, the time required for induction, adaptation and recovery of lysosomal integrity in green-lipped mussel Perna viridis upon exposure to benzo[a]pyrene was investigated over a period of 62 days. Maximum induction occurred on day 6 when lysosomal integrity was significantly reduced by 51%, and no further change or adaptation was detected thereafter. When mussels were depurated in clean seawater after 18 days of exposure to benzo[a]pyrene, a gradual recovery was observed, with lysosomal integrity returning to its background level and showing a complete recovery after 20 days of depuration. Lysosomal integrity was significantly correlated with the body burden concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene and condition index of the mussels. The relatively fast induction (6 days) and recovery (20 days) without apparent adaptation suggested that lysosomal integrity in P. viridis can serve as a good biomarker in biomonitoring, as its response is not likely to generate both false-negative and false-positive results.