Stress Responses in Fish

Dear Colleagues,

Fish in aquatic environments are continuously exposed to a wide range of stressors, including environmental stressors, e.g., lack of oxygen, pathogens, pollution, and climate-driven changes and handling (aquacultured fish). These stressors can impair immune competence, metabolism, growth, and overall welfare, underscoring the need for integrated scientific approaches to better understand and mitigate stress impacts in fish. Advancing our knowledge of the physiological, molecular, and ecological dimensions of fish stress responses is essential for improving aquaculture productivity and thus ensuring sustainable aquaculture.

This Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge research on the mechanisms, consequences, and management of stress in fish. By integrating insights from molecular biology, physiology, immunology, behavior, ecology, and aquaculture science, we hope to foster a deeper understanding of how fish respond to acute and chronic stressors, and how these responses can be monitored, regulated, modulated, and applied toward improved fish health and welfare.

We welcome interdisciplinary contributions, including experimental studies, theoretical frameworks, reviews, and applied research, that advance our understanding of stress physiology in fish. Submissions may include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Stress Physiology and Endocrinology: Mechanisms regulating primary, secondary, and tertiary stress responses; neuroendocrine pathways; and biomarkers of stress.
• Immune and Molecular Stress Responses: Transcriptomic, proteomic, and epigenetic studies on immune modulation, oxidative stress, and cellular defense pathways.
• Environmental, Climate-Driven Stressors and Complex Stressors: Effects of temperature shifts, hypoxia, salinity changes, pollutants, climate-induced hazards on fish health and performance, and the impact of combined stressors.
• Behavioral and Welfare Indicators: Stress-linked behavior patterns, coping styles, welfare assessment tools, and behavioral monitoring technologies.
• Aquaculture Practices and Mitigation Strategies: Stress resulting from handling, vaccination, transport, stocking density, and strategies to enhance resilience (nutrition, selective breeding, and environmental enrichment).
• Innovative Approaches and Technologies: Applications of omics tools, bioinformatics, AI, sensor technologies, and digital monitoring to evaluate and manage stress in fish.

Dr. Ali Reza Khansari
Prof. Dr. Lluís Tort
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 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-blind 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.

• fish
• physiology
• stress
• HPI axis
• cortisol