Abstract: 【Objective】 Growth differences during the different seedling sources of Crassostrea hongkongensis and their correlations with the expression patterns of growth genes were investigated to provide a theoretical basis for screening candidate genes for growth traits and provide reference for breed selection of C. hongkongensis.【Method】 Growth differences were observed by comparing C. hongkongensis derived from artificial spat-collection(artificial group) and semiartificial collection of seedling in natural ocean systems(natural group). The expression of IGF1, AMPKα and FoxO1 genes in the mantles and adductor muscles of C. hongkongensis was deduced by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. Correlation was analyzed between growth traits(shell height, shell length, shell width, whole weight and soft tissue weight) and growth-related gene expression by statistical methods and correlation analysis.【Result】 Growth traits including shell height, shell length, shell width, whole weight and soft tissue weight of C. hongkongensis obtained from artificial group and natural group showed an overall increasing trend during the experiment(4-month-old to 12-month-old). The growth traits of artificial group were significantly higher than natural group(P<0.05, the same below). However, the growth rate of natural group was higher than that of artificial group. The gene expression of IGF1, AMPKα and FoxO1 in the mantle and adductor muscle in natural group were higher than those in artificial group at different developmental stages, but the differences were not significant(P>0.05, the same below). Correlation analysis results showed that there was correlation between growth-related genes and growth traits of the artificial group and natural group. The total expression of IGF1 in the mantle and adductor muscle was negatively correlated with shell height and positively correlated with shell width. The total expression of AMPKα was positively correlated with growth traits including shell height, whole weight and soft tissue weight, and negatively correlated with shell width. The total expression of FoxO1 was negatively correlated with shell width.【Conclusion】 There are some differences in growth traits and growth-related genes expression between C. hongkongensis obtained by artificial spat-collection and semi artificial seedling collection in natural sea areas. IGF1, AMPKα and FoxO1 genes play a certain regulatory role in the growth of C. hongkongensis, and have different indicating effects on different growth indexes. It is speculated that artificial breeding can alter the increase rate of growth indicators of C. hongkongensis by regulating the amounts of IGF1, AMPKα and FoxO1 genes expression.