Guest Editors
Yawei Shen
Henan Normal University, College of Fisheries
<p>Dr. Yawei Shen received his PhD from Shanghai Ocean University and completed joint doctoral training at the Centre of Marine Sciences, University of Algarve, Portugal, in 2022. From 2023 to 2025, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biological Sciences at Clemson University, where his research focused on multi-omics analysis, stem cell-based models, and bioinformatics. He is currently a lecturer (assistant professor-equivalent) in the College of Fisheries at Henan Normal University, China.</p><p><br></p><p>His research focuses on aquatic animal functional genomics and applied bioinformatics, with particular interests in sex differentiation in Nile tilapia and the domestication, genetic improvement, and breeding of mandarin fish. His work integrates experimental biology with genomics, transcriptomics, single-cell omics, and multi-omics data analysis to investigate key biological traits. He has published in leading journals, including <em>Nature Communications</em>, <em>Advanced Science</em>, <em>iScience</em>, <em>Communications Biology</em>, <em>Scientific Data</em>, and <em>Fish & Shellfish Immunology</em>. Dr. Shen received the First Prize of the Shanghai Aquatic Science and Technology Paper Award and serves as a reviewer for several peer-reviewed scientific journals.</p>
Maoxiao Peng
University of Algarve, The Centre of Marine Sciences of the Algarve
<p>Dr. Maoxiao Peng is a junior researcher in the Comparative Endocrinology and Integrative Biology lab of the Algarve Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR), University of Algarve. He is dedicated to theoretical research on aquatic animal diversity, immunity, molecular evolution, mineralization, osmotic pressure regulation, and neural and neuroendocrine regulation. His research focuses on the impact of ecological and environmental changes on the physiology and adaptability of mollusks, the mineralization mechanisms of mollusk shells, the evolutionary history of mollusks, and neuroendocrine regulatory mechanisms. Theoretical research in aquatic animal biology has long faced a shortage of supporting experimental methods and tools. Therefore, he is particularly interested in exploring innovations in experimental methods and tool development, as well as the adaptation and optimization of existing tools and methodologies for aquatic animal research.</p>
Xinyu Jiang
Henan Normal University, College of Fisheries
<p>Dr. Xinyu Jiang is an associate professor at Henan Normal University. He received his PhD in science from Shanghai Ocean University, specializing in comparative and developmental immunology. His research focuses on the function, evolution, and regulatory networks of innate interleukins in teleost fish. He has made notable contributions to understanding how innate immune molecules function in bony fish, with an emphasis on network mapping and evolutionary perspectives. His findings have been published in leading international journals, including <em>Fish & Shellfish Immunology</em>, <em>Frontiers in Immunology</em>, <em>International Journal of Biological Macromolecules</em>, and <em>Aquaculture</em>.</p><p><br></p><p>In recognition of his expertise, he regularly serves as a peer reviewer for these journals, evaluating manuscripts on fish immunology and aquaculture biology. Dr. Jiang’s ongoing work integrates molecular immunology with evolutionary biology to decipher host–pathogen interactions and improve disease resistance in cultured fish species. His research not only advances fundamental knowledge of teleost immunity but also provides practical insights for sustainable aquaculture practices.</p>
Meng Zhang
Henan Normal University, College of Fisheries
<p>Dr. Meng Zhang is an associate professor and master’s supervisor in the College of Fisheries at Henan Normal University. He holds a PhD in agriculture and specializes in aquatic germplasm resources and seedling engineering, with a focus on the genetic analysis of feed adaptation and disease resistance breeding in species such as largemouth bass. He has led multiple research projects, including a National Natural Science Foundation of China Young Scientists Fund project, and has published more than 20 peer-reviewed papers. Proficient in molecular breeding techniques and largemouth bass breeding, Dr. Zhang supports industry–academia collaborations to advance aquaculture. His contributions have been recognized with awards including the First Prize of the Shennong Chinese Agricultural Science and Technology Award.</p>
Collection Overview
Aquatic organisms provide essential models for research in aquaculture, physiology, immunology, toxicology, reproduction, development, and environmental adaptation. However, many aquatic species are non-model organisms, and experimental procedures and data analysis workflows are often difficult to reproduce because they rely on species-specific sampling, husbandry conditions, tissue processing, molecular assays, genome resources, annotation databases, and computational decisions that are often only briefly described in conventional research articles. In particular, bioinformatics analyses in aquatic organisms frequently require customized reference databases, species-specific genome or transcriptome annotations, cross-species functional annotation, and tailored analytical pipelines.
This Topocal Collection will encompass visual protocols detailing experimental approaches and analytical workflows for aquatic organisms, including fish, shellfish, and other aquatic models. Methods of interest include, but are not limited to, aquaculture trials, pathogen or stress challenge experiments, tissue sampling and preservation, histology, embryo and cell-based assays, molecular detection, transcriptomics, genomics, metabolomics, microbiome analysis, and bioinformatics pipelines.
By presenting clear step-by-step procedures, critical parameters, troubleshooting points, database selection strategies, customized analysis steps, and representative outcomes, this collection aims to help researchers standardize experimental design, improve reproducibility, and connect wet-lab aquatic biology with transparent and species-aware data analysis.