Physiological Adaptations of Fish to Hypoxia
A special issue of Fishes (ISSN 2410-3888). This special issue belongs to the section "Physiology and Biochemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 143
Editor
Interests: fish physiology; behavior; immunity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Hypoxia is a growing challenge for aquatic ecosystems, driven by climate change and eutrophication. Fish have evolved a remarkable suite of physiological adaptations to survive and thrive under low oxygen conditions. These include enhanced oxygen extraction via morphological remodeling of gills, adjustments in blood oxygen-carrying capacity and metabolic suppression to reduce energy demand. Many species also upregulate anaerobic glycolysis, produce neuroprotective compounds and exhibit behavioral responses such as aquatic surface respiration. At the molecular level, fish orchestrate the expression of genes involved in erythropoiesis, angiogenesis and glucose transport. This Special Issue invites contributions that explore the integrative, comparative and applied aspects of fish hypoxia physiology. Understanding these adaptations is crucial for predicting species resilience and informing conservation strategies in a rapidly deoxygenating world.
Dr. Weijie Mu
Guest Editor
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fishes 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 2600 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.
Keywords
- hypoxia tolerance
- oxygen sensing
- gill remodeling
- metabolic suppression
- hemoglobin affinity
- hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)
- anaerobic metabolism
- aquatic surface respiration
- cardiorespiratory adaptation
- fish physiology
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