About this Research Topic

Background

For some fish species, reproductive dysfunctions associated with captive conditions prevent the development of aquaculture production. However, in recent decades, various techniques have been developed to control reproduction and treat these dysfunctions according to the 3R principles (Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement). Animal welfare is one of the most important concepts in aquaculture nowadays, especially when it comes to reproduction, since broodstock is essential to establish production of a new species.

There are several methods to stimulate reproduction, such as environmental manipulation (e.g., photoperiod, temperature, salinity, etc.) to stimulate spawning, hormone induction to trigger maturation, ovulation, or spermatogenesis, enriching the environment in conjunction with stress responses and welfare to mimic natural conditions, and using pheromones to trigger reproductive behavior. Within these methods there is a multidisciplinary combination of techniques that are either cutting-edge, such as epigenetic analysis and the effects on offspring, or more traditional, such as the study of gonads using histology.

There are approaches that are more invasive than others, and the non-invasive methods have become more important in recent years because of the increasing concern with animal welfare and the value of broodstock. For example, it has been found that the immune status of fish is linked to the properties of mucus, which facilitates the collection of samples without harming the fish. The study of gametes is also very important to understand the early development and ontogeny of farmed fish, in which nutrition and immunity play a major role.

The main objective of the present Research Topic is to cover multidisciplinary approaches to control fish reproduction and management. From this point of view, traditional and modern methods could be used to monitor and control reproduction in fish. In the last decade, research worldwide has increased focus on the principles of 3Rs. Therefore, we support studies that use non-invasive methods to study reproduction in fish.

This Research Topic welcomes original and review articles that address traditional (histological studies, environmental manipulation, hormonal induction) and cutting-edge techniques (transcriptional regulation and epigenetic modification of neuroendocrine systems) in fish reproduction. Other areas of interest include the following:

• Novel neuropeptides that may play a modulatory role in both feeding and reproduction in fish: physiological, molecular, and neuroanatomical evidence for their effects and interactions.
• Novel signaling pathways and regulatory patterns, such as transcriptional regulation and epigenetic modification, of neuroendocrine systems that modulate feeding.
• Functional significance and signaling pathways of neuroendocrine factors involved in the regulation of reproduction (e.g. GnIH, kisspeptin, spexin, neurokinin B, secretoneurin, among others).

Keywords: Fish, Teleosts, Reproduction, Immunology, Invasive and noninvasive techniques, Animal Welfare, Production, Aquaculture, Omics

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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