This article reviewed the advance in aquatic animal pigmentation, including theory and practice of pigmentation. Color plays a very important role in determining quality and price of cultured fish, shrimp and other aquatic animals. The beautiful color of red, orange, yellow is due to a group of pigments named carotenoids, which could not be obtained from de novo synthesis by these animals, but directly from diets. Astaxanthin and lutein are main pigments existing in aquatic animals, so adding such carotenoids in artificial diets is an important way to improve the color of skin and flesh. On the basis of where astaxanthin is biosynthesized, aquatic animals could be divided into 3 types, red carp type, sea bream type and prawn type. For prawn type, including prawn, crab, lobster and other crustaceans in which astaxanthin is the main carotenoid, color could be improved by feeding β - carotene, astaxanthin, canthaxanthin, zeaxanthin and lutein, but astaxanthin and canthaxanthin are more effective. For red carp type, including red carp, goldfish, fancy red carp and most freshwater fishes, astaxanthin, canthaxanthin, zeaxanthin and lutein could be fed, but only astaxanthin, canthaxanthin could be fed to the third type including sea bream and salmonids, and the adding level of these pigments is about 50 - 100 mg? kg^- 1. There are 2 kinds of pigments could be used in aquatic feeds, carotenoids additives and natural feedstuffs rich in carotenoids, such as green alga, yeast Phaffia rhodozyma, and shrimp waste. Many factors affect the pigmentation of aquatic animals, which includes the species, size and physiological situation of animals, diets composition, source and kinds of pigments. Other factors such as feeding rate, water temperature, and brightness also play some roles in color formation of aquatic animals. So, attention must be paid to satisfy pigmentation for aquatic animals. Compared with Western countries, the research and use of aquatic animals pigmentation in China are late and superficial, but develop rapidly in recent years. In the future, more attention should be paid to metabolism, regulation and affecting factors of pigmentation based on characteristics of cultured conditions, species and feedstuffs, to promote pigmentation theory and practice of aquatic animals in China.