The noble scallop Chlamys nobilis is polymorphic in its shell color, including orange, orange-purple, purple and brown colors.In this study, the inheritance in shell colors of this species was investigated by analyzing shell color segregation in juvenile scallops produced from cross-fertilization, and the genetic mechanism laid behind was further analyzed.Totally, twenty two F1 families derived from four types of parental crosses were produced in April, 2008.The results clearly demonstrated that shell color in this species was steadily inherited but insensitive to the environment, and a simple dominant model of epistasis to explain variants observed.All the four kinds of shell colors were under gene control with a little difference in the genetic mechanism among different colors.The orange color was controlled by one locus with at least four alleles: one dominant, determinant of the orange color; and other three recessive, determinant of orange-purple, purple, and brown color.The brown color was controlled by one allele and recessive to other colors.Both orange-purple and purple were dominant to brown and recessive to orange, and their hereditary mechanism needs to be further extensively studied.