In order to improve production and get new strains of noble scallop Chlamys nobilis Reeve by selection breeding, three populations of orange, brown and orange-brown were established using the method of random mating among individuals on 14, 16 and 18 October 2008, respectively, whose parents derived from the same cultured population. Since fertilization, the three populations were always cultured under the same conditions in order to minimize environmental effects. The results showed that there were significant differences among the three populations in the hatching rate, larval survival, and growth at larvae and juvenile stage. The hatching rate was 97.5%, 92.6% and 91.3% for orange, brown and orange-brown population, respectively, and the former were higher than the later two. The survival rate from high to low was always in order of orange-brown, brown and orange population at whole larvae stage, which was 67.0%, 43.8% and 16.0% at age of day 10, respectively. At larvae stage, the brown population grew the fastest, the orange-brown population grew slower than the brown population, and the orange population grew the slowest, whose growth rate was 9.49μm/d, 8.30μm/d, and 7.73μm/d in shell length and 8.18μm/d, 7.17μm/d, and 6.61μm/d in shell height, respectively; at juveniles stage, the orange-brown population grew the fastest, the orange population grew slower than the orange-brown population, and the brown population grew the slowest, whose growth rate was 64.6μm/d, 58.6μm/d, and 49.0μm/d in shell length and 78.6μm/d, 70.5μm/d, and 59.5μm/d in shell height, respectively. Furthermore, the shell length grew faster than shell height at larvae stage, whereas shell height grew faster than shell length at juvenile stage. The present results suggested that there was a close connection between shell color and traits in the noble scallop, which provided a theoretical basis for selective breeding of this species.
