Mangroves are important intertidal wetland ecosystems distributed along tropical and subtropical coastlines, providing key ecological functions such as water purification and the nursery of fishery resources. However, mangrove restoration and plantation occupy coastal aquaculture pond lands, thereby triggering conflicts between ecological protection and industrial development. The mangrove-aquaculture ecological coupling mode (Hereinafter referred to as the planting-breeding coupling mode) provides a feasible pathway for coordinating mangrove ecological protection and coastal aquaculture development. This paper analyzes the ecological basis of the planting–breeding coupling mode, summarizes the research and practical progress of Integrated Mangrove Aquaculture (IMA), including Integrated Mangrove–Shrimp System (IMS) and Associated Mangrove–Aquaculture System (AMA), Ecological Mangrove Restoration (EMR), and China's planted mangrove-based coupling mode. We compared and analyzed the differences of the four modes in terms of mangrove restoration methods, aquaculture patterns, core objectives and application scales. We further put forward the key problems to be solved in the conceptual thinking, key technologies and policy management of China's planting-breeding coupling mode. This study aims to provide a reference for the research and application of the coupling mode, as well as for government departments to formulate policies for ecological protection and industrial development.

Phaeocystis globosa blooms have become one of the typical marine ecological disasters along the Guangdong coast, posing persistent risks to inshore ecological security, mariculture, and cooling water intakes for coastal nuclear power plants. We collected and analyzed data on outbreaks of P. globosa blooms along the Guangdong coast over the past two decades (2005–2024) and investigated the causative factors by examining typical outbreak events in recent years. The results indicate that 47 outbreaks of P. globosa bloom were recorded along the Guangdong coast in the past 20 years, with an annual average of 2.4 events, and 80% of the years had recorded outbreaks. The years 2005, 2007, and 2024 were identified as high-frequency years, and winter was the high-incidence season. The waters of Zhanjiang Port-Donghai Island in western Guangdong and Shanwei Port-Pinqing Lake in eastern Guangdong were high-frequency areas for P. globosa blooms along the Guangdong coast over the years, whereas outbreaks in the Pearl River Estuary in recent years have been characterized by multiple-point, small-scale, and long-duration events. Temperature and nitrate were identified as significant stimulating factors for these outbreaks, and sufficient light is an important condition supporting bloom formation. Diatoms play a driving role in the outbreak of P. globosa blooms, and the competitive advantages endowed by the alga's own diversified carbon-concentrating mechanisms and complex heteromorphic life cycle form the basis for its blooms. Based on the analysis of the patterns and causes of P. globosa blooms along the Guangdong coast, strengthening continuous monitoring in key sea areas during winter and spring, coupled with nutrient input control and coastal ecological environment management, is of significant importance for reducing the risk of P. globosa blooms.

Oyster shell reef restoration is an important approach for enhancing the structure and functioning of coastal ecosystems, yet its ecological effects in mangrove wetlands remain insufficiently understood. In this study, we investigated the macrobenthic communities at different stages following the deployment of oyster shell reef (July 2024 to May 2025), using an unvegetated mudflat in the mangrove wetland as a control. By integrating species functional trait analysis, we evaluated the effects of oyster shell reef construction on the functional structure and diversity of macrobenthic communities. The results show that: 1) the oyster shell reef enriches the functional structure of macrobenthic communities in the mangrove wetland, with mudflat communities dominated by infaunal species characterized by burrowing behavior, fragile bodies, and a lack of exoskeletons, whereas oyster shell reef communities are dominated by epifaunal species exhibiting free-living habits, high mobility, and chitinous exoskeletons. 2) The functional structure of oyster shell reef communities exhibits distinct temporal dynamics, shifting from dominance by highly mobile and dorsoventrally compressed pioneer species to more functionally diverse and structurally balanced assemblages. 3) The oyster shell reef significantly increases functional richness (FRic), functional divergence (FDiv), and functional redundancy (FRed), while functional evenness (FEve) and functional dispersion (FDis) show limited changes. 4) FRic and FDiv are strongly driven by species richness, whereas FEve, FDis, and FRed show no significant relationship with species richness.

In order to strengthen the resource conservation and artificial propagation of Sebastiscus marmoratus in Daya Bay, we combined morphometric analysis, histology and microscopy to analyze the population structure, gonadal development and reproductive habits of the wild population. The results show that: 1) The sex ratios of S. marmoratus populations sampled in winter and spring were 1.5∶1 and 2∶1, respectively. The body mass of male individuals in spring was significantly greater than that in winter (p<0.05), while there was no significant difference in the body mass between female individuals in spring and winter (p>0.05). 2) The condition factor, viscera-somatic index, and gonadosomatic index of female individuals in winter were significantly greater than those of male individuals (p<0.05), and the gonadosomatic index of female individuals in spring was significantly greater than that of male individuals (p<0.05). Moreover, the gonadosomatic index of female individuals in winter was significantly greater than that in spring (p<0.05). 3) The body mass of both female and male individuals was significantly correlated with morphological traits such as total length, body length, and body height (p<0.05). In addition, the body mass of female individuals was significantly correlated with tail handle length (p<0.05). 4) The absolute fecundity of female individuals (40−50 g) was about 5 192−11 027 eggs. The average long axis of fertilized eggs was 716.58 μm, the head-to-tail length of larvae in the ovary could reach 2.07 mm, and the total length of newly hatched larvae was approximately 2.80−4.50 mm. The osmotic pressure of ovarian cavity fluid during larval incubation was 496 mOsm·L⁻¹. The results indicate that the spawning season of S. marmoratus in Daya Bay is November–April, which provides key biological parameters for its conservation of wild resources and large-scale artificial breeding.

To analyze the response of marine fish reproduction to environmental changes and understand the early recruitment process of Konosirus punctatus, we investigated its reproductive cycle, identified spawning gravity centers and migration trajectories via center of gravity analysis, and explored the relationship between egg distribution and environmental factors using a Two-stage Generalized Additive Model (GAM). Data were collected from year-round sampling in the spawning and nursery grounds investigation of Daya Bay from May 2022 to April 2023. The results indicate that the reproductive period of K. punctatus in Daya Bay extended from December to the following April, with the peak spawning season occurring from January to March. Significant spatiotemporal variations were observed in egg distribution (p<0.05), with high-abundance areas mainly concentrated in the northwestern and southwestern nearshore waters. The spawning gravity center of K. punctatus in Daya Bay migrated around Jixin Island, Xuzhou, and Yuanzhou, forming a trajectory from the northern Central Islands to the northwestern nearshore waters, then to the southwestern waters, eventually returning to the Central Islands. The spatial heterogeneity results were consistent with the elliptic centroid analysis, showing a decreasing abundance trend from the northwest to the southeast. The two-stage GAM reveals that month, longitude, latitude, and zooplankton abundance were the main factors influencing the probability of egg occurrence (p<0.05). Month, zooplankton abundance, longitude, latitude, sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS), and offshore distance significantly affect abundance distribution of K. punctatus eggs. Zooplankton abundance exhibited a significant positive linear effect on egg distribution. The SST and SSS of the high-abundance areas ranged from 18°C to 24°C and 32.5‰ to 34.0‰, respectively. The findings provide an important scientific basis and support for the investigation and protection of K. punctatus spawning grounds in Daya Bay, as well as for the refined management of the Daya Bay sea area.

Protoperidinium is one of the most species-diverse genera of marine dinoflagellates. As a group of heterotrophic plankton, it plays important ecological roles in marine food webs. However, species of this genus are morphologically complex and often difficult to identify, and the long-term lack of a regionally applicable taxonomic key for Chinese seas has constrained studies on local species diversity. Using all species of Protoperidinium recorded in Dinoflagellates in the China's Seas III (Peridiniales) as the study material, we systematically extracted 32 morphological characters belonging to seven categories: Apical horn and antapical appendages, ventral view, sulcus, cingulum, thecal plate pattern, thecal ornamentation, and cell size. These characters were comprehensively evaluated in terms of intraspecific stability, interspecific discriminability, and ease of observation under light microscopy. The Apical horn and antapical appendages, sulcus, and ventral view were identified as the core diagnostic characters, whereas the remaining characters were treated as supplementary evidence. On this basis, a dichotomous taxonomic key was constructed and subsequently evaluated for practical applicability. Four professional taxonomists achieved identification accuracy of 90.0%−93.3% when using randomly grouped species illustrations. This is the first localized morphological taxonomic key covering 118 Protoperidinium species (Including varieties) in Chinese seas, with a trinity cross-verification mechanism of "key-illustration-description". Application of the key in marine ecological monitoring in Guangdong Province performed well, providing taxonomic support for capacity building in phytoplankton monitoring in the South China Sea.