Abstract: Morphological data of white shrimp (Exopalaemon modestus Heller) collected from five fresh water lakes in China were analyzed. Ten morphometric traits were measured from over 300 shrimps and the degree of morphological similarity among sites was calculated using multivariate analysis techniques. Eight from the eleven adjusted morphometric traits in females as well as six in males were effective to discriminate differences among five populations. Discriminant analysis revealed that over 90.8% females and 87.8% males of individuals could be classified to their sites of origin. The results of cluster analysis and principal component analysis revealed that populations from Taihu Lake and Dianchi Lake are most similar and form a common cluster when the other three populations from Xingkai Lake, Hulun Lake and Chaohu Lake form another branch, which means that the patterns of morphological variability in this species could be determined by the local environmental conditions，more research work must be done to identify the source of inter-population variability in the morphology of the white shrimp.

Key words: geographical population, morphological variation, Exopalaemon modestus Heller, geographical population, morphological variation