About this Research Topic

Background

Aquatic invertebrates, especially mollusks and crustaceans, are a very large group of organisms. Many species of shellfish and crustaceans have great economic and food value and are therefore widely farmed around the world. However, studies on shellfish and crustaceans are still far from being adequate compared to vertebrates. Specifically, the research progress of shellfish and crustaceans mainly has the following problems: (1) The underlying knowledge on the mechanisms of endocrine regulation of reproduction and ovarian development in mollusks and crustaceans is unclear. In addition, studies on whether shellfish and crustaceans themselves can synthesize steroid hormones and the mechanism of action of steroid hormones are still in their infancy. (2) Most shellfish and crustaceans are sexually dimorphic, that is, females and males show significant differences in economic traits such as growth rate, individual size, and quality. Therefore, exploring the mechanisms of sex determination and differentiation in shellfish and crustaceans is of great significance to guide the single-sex breeding of economic species. (3) With the increase in the aquaculture scale of economic shellfish and crustaceans and the premature market time, some shellfish and crustaceans have experienced the phenomenon of degradation of germplasm resources. Therefore, it is urgent to carry out the evaluation of the germplasm resources of shellfish and crustaceans and the selection of new varieties. Moreover, the farming model of crustaceans and shellfish is still at a relatively low level, and it is necessary to innovate its farming model. (4) Recently, on the one hand, the construction of marine engineering has reduced the living and breeding space of marine organisms, resulting in a decrease in their aquaculture production; on the other hand, the pollution of the marine ecological environment leads to eutrophication of water bodies and the proliferation of algae, which affects the respiration of shellfish and eventually leads to the death of shellfish. Understanding the response mechanisms of shellfish and crustaceans to adverse environments can provide basic information for the cultivation and protection of shellfish resources. In addition, as an important part of marine pollution biomes, bivalve mollusks also have high ecological value. Therefore, it is of great significance to carry out the classification and ecological research of shellfish for the subsequent classification and identification, ecological investigation and control. (5) As a filter-feeding species, shellfish need to feed a large number of live algae in the process of artificial breeding, which greatly increases the cost of breeding. Furthermore, the lack of commercial farmed feeds limits the scale of farming of most shellfish. Therefore, the research on the nutritional requirements of filter-feeding shellfish and compound feed has strong application value. In addition, shellfish and crustaceans will be infested by various pathogenic bacteria during the breeding process, and due to the particularity of their living environment, once the disease occurs, its treatment is more difficult. Therefore, understanding the pathogenic mechanism of its disease is very important for the innovation of disease control technology in the breeding process.

The focus of this Research Topic is on studies of shellfish and crustaceans species. It calls for original and novel papers related to shellfish and crustaceans in any of the following research topics:

• Molecular mechanism on reproduction and ovarian development of mollusks and crustaceans
• Sex determination and differentiation of mollusks and crustaceans
• Aquaculture technology and genetic resources evaluation of mollusks and crustaceans
• Environmental response, ecology and taxonomy of mollusks and crustaceans
• Nutrition and disease of mollusks and crustaceans

Keywords: Mollusks, Crustaceans, Ovarian development, Reproduction, Physiology, Genetic resources evaluation, Ecology, Nutrition, Disease, Aquaculture technology, Taxonomy

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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