Clam Meretrix lamarchii is delicious seafood with high economic value. The M. lamarchii in present market is mainly collected from wild population due to the lack of large-scale artificial seed production. In 2013,we carried out the artificial seedling exploration of M. Lamarchii. The current study utilized several statistical methods to analyze the effects of morphological traits on M. Lamarchii,which may provide knowledge for clam quality seedlings breeding work. The samples of M. Lamarchii were randomly sampled from Donghai Island,Zhanjiang. Shell length( SL),shell width( SW),shell height( SH),ligament length( Li L),lunule length( Lu L) and total weight( TW) of two-year-old M. Lamarchii were measured. A correlation coefficient matrix was constructed based on the results,where the total weight was set as the dependent variable and others as independent variables. Path coefficient and correlation index were calculated,and the major phenotypic characters were determined. The results showed that all the correlation coefficients between independent variables and dependent variable were significant( P < 0. 01),with an exception of the lunule length( P > 0. 05). The effects of the shell length,shell width,and shell height on the total weight were significant( P < 0. 01),and the shell length had dominant effect on the weight as a key effective factor. The multiple regression equation between the weight and the other traits was established as Y_W=- 126. 784 + 1. 249X_(SL)+ 2. 036X_(SW)+ 0. 911 X_(SH),where YWis total weight,X_(SL),X_(SW)and X_(SH)are the shell length,shell width and shell height,respectively. The current study may contribute to the artificial breeding of the species. Clam Meretrix lamarchii is delicious seafood with high economic value. The M. lamarchii in present market is mainly collected from wild population due to the lack of large-scale artificial seed production. In 2013, we carried out the artificial seedling exploration of M. Lamarchii . The current study utilized several statistical methods to analyze the effects of morphological traits on M. Lamarchii, which may provide knowledge for clam quality seedlings breeding work. The samples of M. Lamarchii were randomly sampled from Donghai Island, Zhanjiang. A correlation coefficient matrix was calculated using the shell width (SW), shell height (SH), ligament length (Li L), lunule length (Lu L) and total weight (TW) of two-year-old M. Lamarchii were measured constructed based on the results, where the total weight was set as the dependent variable and others as independent variables. Path results and correlation index were calculated, and the major phenotypic characters were determined. The results sh owed that all the correlation coefficients between independent variables and dependent variables were significant (P <0.01), with an exception of the lunule length (P> 0.05). The effects of the shell length, shell width, and shell height The multiple regression equation between the weight and the other traits was established as Y_W = -126. 784 + 1. 249X_ (SL) + 2. 036X_ (SW) + 0. 911 X_ (SH), where YWis total weight, X_ (SL), X_ (SW) and X_ (SH) are the shell length, shell width and shell height, respectively. The current study may contribute to the artificial breeding of the species.