The paper deals with the recognition of symmetric three-dimensional (3D) bodies that can be rotated and translated. We provide a complete list of all existing combinations of rotation and reflection symmetries in 3D. We define 3D complex moments by means of spherical harmonics, and the influence of individual symmetry groups on complex moment values is studied. Each particular symmetry pre-defines certain moment values. These moments can no longer differentiate between two objects of the same symmetry, which decreases the recognition power of the feature set. They should not be included when constructing the invariants. Translation and rotation invariants up to the fourth order are presented and their performance is studied on both artificial and real data.