Rudi Mai , Chengmin Sun

Center for Tropical Marine Fisheries Research, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resouces, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Marine Science, 2025, Vol. 15, No. 3   doi: 10.5376/ijms.2025.15.0013
Received: 10 Apr., 2025    Accepted: 28 May, 2025    Published: 10 Jun., 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Mai R.D., and Sun C.M., 2025, Molecular systematics and phylogenetic relationships of wild fish in coastal waters of Hainan Island, International Journal of Marine Science, 15(3): 144-153 (doi: 10.5376/ijms.2025.15.0013)

 

The offshore waters of Hainan Island are a hot spot for tropical marine biodiversity in China. Wild fish resources are abundant but there is insufficient classification awareness. Traditional fish classification mainly relies on morphological characteristics and appears to be limited in the face of species diversity and hidden species problems. This study reviews the development history and main methods of molecular systems, sorts out the progress of fish molecular classification research at home and abroad, and its application cases in the tropical waters of the South China Sea. Focus on summarizing the current status of fish classification in Hainan offshore, comparing the applicability and polymorphic differences of commonly used molecular markers (such as COI, 16S, Cytb), and discussing the practice of building phylogenetic trees based on NJ, ML, and BI methods and evaluating reliability. Based on recent research results, the kinship pattern and population genetic structural characteristics of fish in Hainan near-shore areas are analyzed, and the discovery and significance of potential hidden species are revealed. From the perspective of geological evolution, the impact of environmental changes in Hainan Island and surrounding sea areas on fish lineage differentiation is discussed, and the ecological significance of the research results in marine biodiversity conservation and fishery resource management is expounded, and the research direction is expected to be carried out in the future. This study provides scientific reference for further in-depth research on molecular systems of fish in Hainan offshore fish and improving species classification system and protection strategies.

Offshore of Hainan Island; Fish classification; Phylogenetic; Kinship; Geographical evolution