{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,24]],"date-time":"2026-07-24T10:04:38Z","timestamp":1784887478531,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]],"date-time":"2026-03-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773705600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]],"date-time":"2026-03-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773705600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100023996","name":"Singapore Food Agency","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NRF\u2010000190\u201000"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NRF\u2010000190\u201000"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100023996","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Journal of Fish Biology"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    The Malabar red snapper (\n                    <jats:italic>Lutjanus malabaricus<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) is a high\u2010value tropical marine species receiving growing attention for aquaculture development in Singapore and Southeast Asia. At present, seed production relies primarily on uncontrolled mass spawning in sea cages, a practice that lacks consistency, biosecurity and control of genetic contributions. A clear understanding of gonadal sex differentiation is essential for designing effective sex control strategies and establishing selective breeding programmes. However, the progression of gonadal development from initial differentiation through to sexual maturity in\n                    <jats:italic>L. malabaricus<\/jats:italic>\n                    remains poorly characterized. In this study, a comprehensive histological investigation of gonadal differentiation was conducted by tracking individuals from 1 to 445\u2009days post\u2010hatch (dph). Gonads first appeared as undifferentiated structures at 14\u2009dph, located between the swim bladder and intestine. The onset of ovarian differentiation was observed at 77\u2009dph, marked by ovarian cavity formation, while testicular differentiation commenced at 128\u2009dph, indicated by the development of lobular testis structures. Oogenesis was initiated by 169\u2009dph, marked by the first observation of oogonia, and progressed to the chromatin nucleolus oocyte stage by 249\u2009dph. Spermatogenesis was first evident at 249\u2009dph, based on the appearance of lobular organization and spermatogonia, and further progressed by 353\u2009dph, when spermatocytes, spermatids and spermatozoa were observed. These observations establish the first developmental timeline of gonadal sex differentiation in\n                    <jats:italic>L. malabaricus<\/jats:italic>\n                    , identifying key morphological features that distinguish early\u2010stage ovaries from testes. Importantly, our study also revealed a highly skewed sex ratio in a harvest\u2010size cohort from a commercial farm, with females comprising over 85% of the population. Given the species is considered gonochoristic, this finding raises concerns about potential influences from environmental factors, hatchery practices or genetic bottlenecks, and highlights the need for further investigation under controlled conditions. Together, these findings provide essential biological benchmarks for identifying the timing of sex differentiation and suggest that the optimal windows for sex manipulation occur around 60\u2009dph to promote testicular development and approximately 110\u2009dph to promote ovarian development. This work lays the foundation for future sex control techniques and contributes valuable knowledge toward the development of selective breeding programmes and sustainable seed production in this emerging aquaculture species.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/jfb.70411","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]],"date-time":"2026-03-17T10:22:45Z","timestamp":1773742965000},"page":"246-256","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Histological characterisation of gonadal sex differentiation in Malabar red snapper (\n                    <scp>\n                      <i>Lutjanus malabaricus<\/i>\n                    <\/scp>\n                    ) for aquaculture advancement"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"109","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-2402-011X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bing","family":"Liang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Tropical Futures Institute James Cook University Singapore  Singapore Singapore"},{"name":"Marine Aquaculture Centre Singapore Food Agency  Singapore Singapore"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dean R.","family":"Jerry","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tropical Futures Institute James Cook University Singapore  Singapore Singapore"},{"name":"ARC Research Hub for Supercharging Tropical Aquaculture through Genetic Solutions James Cook University  Townsville Queensland Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joyce","family":"Koh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tropical Futures Institute James Cook University Singapore  Singapore Singapore"},{"name":"School of Applied Science Republic Polytechnic  Singapore Singapore"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Purushothaman","family":"Kathiresan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tropical Futures Institute James Cook University Singapore  Singapore Singapore"},{"name":"School of Applied Science Republic Polytechnic  Singapore Singapore"},{"name":"Department of Preclinical Sciences and Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Norwegian University of Life Sciences  \u00c5s Norway"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Celestine","family":"Terence","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tropical Futures Institute James Cook University Singapore  Singapore Singapore"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xueyan","family":"Shen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tropical Futures Institute James Cook University Singapore  Singapore Singapore"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Grace","family":"Loo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Applied Science Republic Polytechnic  Singapore Singapore"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shubha","family":"Vij","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tropical Futures Institute James Cook University Singapore  Singapore Singapore"},{"name":"School of Applied Science Republic Polytechnic  Singapore Singapore"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jose A.","family":"Domingos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tropical Futures Institute James Cook University Singapore  Singapore Singapore"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_11_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aquaculture.2017.05.022"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1159\/000452362"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0044-8486(01)00590-7"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jwas.12992"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nrg.2017.60"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-981-16-6948-4_5"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.12717\/DR.2014.18.1.051"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s12562-008-0034-4"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aquaculture.2009.05.024"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-93116-9"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/icb\/21.2.345"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.15625\/2615-9023\/17433"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1534\/genetics.114.161158"},{"issue":"4","key":"e_1_2_11_15_1","first-page":"420","article-title":"Demographic characteristics of exploited tropical lutjanids: A comparative analysis","volume":"108","author":"Heupel M. 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