Biology, Ecology, Management and Conservation of Cnidaria

Dear Colleagues,

Cnidarians are an important component of aquatic environments, widely recognized for their significant ecological and economic importance. These invertebrates have a long and venerable fossil record that traces them to the origin of animals in the Earth’s primordial oceans. Their spectacular biodiversity highlights a formidable capacity for adapting to varied ecological niches. Mutualistic symbiotic associations with microalgae (belonging to the Alveolata clade) are the foundation of coral reef ecosystems that sustain nearly a third of all described marine species, while ensuring coastline protection and contributing to the biogeochemical carbon and calcium cycles, as well as to fisheries and tourism-related industries. Free-living jellyfish are voracious planktonic predators playing an important role in the ocean’s trophic chain, commonly known for their toxin-producing stinging cells (cnidocysts) that kill more people per year than sharks. Endoparasites cnidarians of aquatic invertebrates and vertebrates cause diseases associated with economic losses in aquaculture and fisheries. Some species display unique features making them ideal model organisms for fundamental research in the processes of regeneration, morphogenesis, and even non-senescence.

Presently, cnidarian biodiversity and dynamics are directly affected by climate change, though responses differ among distinct groups. For instance, coral reef integrity is threatened by ocean acidification, due to the slowing of calcium production rates. In turn, jellyfish blooms have increased in intensity, alarmingly occupying large oceanic extents, namely in “dead zones”. Regardless, the loss of marine life biodiversity is inherent to these alterations, which demand the development of management and conservation strategies protecting cnidarians as a key pillar of marine biodiversity. Such strategies will have to incorporate knowledge of diversity spawning from ecology to genetic to physiology, while taking into account the interactions that various societies/cultures have with these fascinating organisms.

We are pleased to invite you to submit a manuscript to the Special issue “Biology, Ecology, Management and Conservation of Cnidaria” to be published in the open access journal Biology, and which intends to provide an actual overview of cnidarian research, focused on the biodiversity, ecology, management, and conservation of these organisms.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: diversity, systematics, taxonomy and phylogeny, functional morphology, evolution, genetic diversity and conservation, global change effects on biodiversity, conservation management, ecology, community ecology, and general aspects of diversity assessment.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Sónia Rocha
Dr. Jack Chi-Ho Ip
Dr. Ehsan Kayal
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.

• taxonomy
• systematic
• phylogeny
• evolution
• morphology
• ecology
• genetic diversity
• global change
• conservation management
• diversity assessment