Genetics and Evolutionary Biology of Aquatic Organisms

Dear Colleagues,

Aquatic organisms represent a critical component of global biodiversity. Thriving in highly diverse habitats—from high-altitude lakes to deep-sea trenches—they display extraordinary genetic and phenotypic diversity, offering a powerful natural laboratory for investigating adaptive evolution and speciation. Aquatic ecosystems face severe threats from overfishing, pollution, and climate change, with over 30% of species at risk of extinction. Studying their genetic diversity and adaptive mechanisms is crucial for informing targeted conservation strategies, such as designing protected areas based on genetic structure. Aquatic environments, characterized by both ​isolation​ (e.g., geographic barriers in lakes and rivers) and ​connectivity​ (e.g., ocean-current-mediated gene flow), offer an ideal system for studying diverse modes of speciation. Amid global warming-induced water temperature rise and ocean acidification, aquatic organisms' adaptive capacity is pivotal for climate resilience. Studying rapid adaptive evolution facilitates predicting species persistence and informs early warning systems in ecosystem management. Moreover, adaptations to extreme conditions—including high-altitude hypoxia and deep-sea high pressure—harbor unique genetic insights into life's responses to environmental stress. Studies in these areas not only clarify evolutionary mechanisms under "life extremes" but also provide valuable insights for biomedical research, environmental conservation, and sustainable aquatic resource utilization.

We sincerely invite global researchers to submit original research papers, reviews, perspectives, and brief reports, contributing novel insights into the genetics and evolutionary biology of aquatic organisms. Manuscripts must adhere to rigorous scientific standards, demonstrate innovation, and be supported by sufficient data and sound theoretical analysis.

This Special Issue seeks to showcase cutting-edge research advances in the genetics and evolutionary biology of aquatic organisms. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Genomics and molecular evolution;
• Mechanisms of adaptation;
• Fish functional genetics;
• Fish quantitative genetics;
• Phylogenetics and taxonomy;
• Fish molecular evolution and selection pressure;
• Fish macroevolution and biogeography;
• Evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo);
• Genetic breeding;
• Population genetics;
• ​Mechanisms of speciation;
• ​Conservation of genetic resources​;
• Convergent evolution;
• Fish epigenetic evolution;
• ​Phylogeography;
• Mechanisms of formation of important traits in fish.

Dr. Qianhong Gu
Dr. Liang Guo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biology is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• population genetics
• conservation genetics
• biodiversity
• comparative genomics
• polyploidization
• rapid adaptation
• population genetic divergence
• thermal tolerance
• hypoxia adaptation
• deep-sea pressure adaptation
• convergent evolution
• molecular clock
• phylogeography
• population genetic structure
• divergence time
• inbreeding depression
• genetic diversity
• genomic selection
• genome assembly
• transcriptomics
• population genomics