Uncontrolled bleeding is the main cause of mortality from trauma. Collagen has been developed as an important hemostatic material due to its platelet affinity function. A bath sponge skeleton is rich in collagen, also known as spongin. To understand the hemostatic effect of spongin, spongin materials, SX, SFM and SR were prepared from the bath sponge Spongia officinalis, and hemostatic experiments were performed. The SX, SFM and SR were significantly better than the positive control, type I collagen, in shortening the whole blood clotting time in vitro and hemostasis upon rat tail amputation. In a hemostatic experiment of rabbit common carotid artery injury, the hemostatic time and 3 h survival rate of the SFM group were 3.00 ± 1.53 min and 100%, respectively, which are significantly better than those of the commercial hemostat CELOX-A (10.33 ± 1.37 min and 67%, respectively). Additionally, the SFM showed good coagulation effects in platelet-deficient blood and defibrinated blood, while also showing good biocompatibility. Through a variety of tests, we speculated that the hemostatic activity of the SFM is mainly caused by its hyperabsorbency, high affinity to platelets and high effective concentration. Overall, the SFM and spongin derivates could be potential hemostatic agents for uncontrolled bleeding and hemorrhagic diseases caused by deficiency or dysfunction of coagulation factors.

Ivory shell (Babylonia areolata) is a commercially important aquaculture species mainly found on the southeast coast of China. However, it has been greatly affected by vibriosis in recent years. In this study, FP17 (a potential pathogen) was isolated from a dying ivory shell with “acute death syndrome” and confirmed as a pathogen via infectious experiment. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis based on the average nucleotide identity (ANI) sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and housekeeping genes (ftsz, gapA, gyrB, mreB, pyrH, rpoA, and topA) indicated that FP17 was identical to Vibrio tubiashii. Transmission electron microscopy showed that FP17 is curved and has a short rod shape, with a single flagellum. Besides, the calculated LD₅₀ after the intramuscular injection of FP17 was 2.11 × 10⁶ CFU/g at 14 d. The genome of the FP17 strain consists of two chromosomes and one plasmid with 5,261,336 bp and 45.08% GC content, including 4824 open reading frames (ORFs) and 150 non-coding RNAs (ncRNA). Genome mining revealed that 120 candidate gene clusters, including vibrioferrin and flagellum-related proteins, are responsible for virulence. Comparative genomic analysis showed that vibrioferrin genes, such as pvs and type Ⅵ secretion system protein genes (vas), are specific in V. tubiashii FP17 but not in the ATCC19109 strain. Furthermore, 92 antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes, such as tufA, tet(35), crp, etc., were mapped within the genome as the potential candidate for virulence, consistent with antibiotic susceptibility assay. This is the first study to describe the complete genome sequence of V. tubiashii infecting ivory shell. The genetic characteristics, virulence factors, and antimicrobial resistance of the V. tubiashii strain FP17 were also explored.

In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of prickly redfish Thelenota ananas (Jaeger, 1833) was determined and characterized from the South China Sea using next-generation sequencing. Our results showed that the length of the whole mitogenome in prickly redfish was 15,858 bp and the mitogenome was consist of 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), and one control region. Furthermore, the nucleotide composition was significantly biased (composition of A, G, T, and C was 28.20%, 22.64%, 33.53%, and 15.63%, respectively) with AT contents of 61.73%. All the PCGs shared a standard initiation codon ATG or GTG. CYTB and ND6 genes terminated with an incomplete stop codon T, while others ended with TAA or TAG. Our phylogenetic analysis showed that Thelenota ananas was clustered with the species of genus Stichopus, and formed sister branches with species of other genera within the family Stichopodidae clade.

The whole mitochondrial genome of the spiny spooner Etisus dentatus collected from the South China Sea was determined for the first time using high-throughput sequencing. The circular mitogenome of E. dentatus is 15,884 bp, with 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes. The base composition is significantly biased (A, G, T, and C was 37.9%, 17.8%, 34.0%, and 10.3%, respectively) with A + T contents of 71.9%. Among 13 PCGs, all PCGs use a normal ATN as the start codon, and ten of them end with TAA or TAG except COX1, COX2 and CYTB gene using a single T as the stop codon. The phylogenetic tree showed that E. dentatus forms a cluster E. anaglyptus while Atergatis integerrimus form a sister group to this cluster.

Global warming and summer heatwaves increasingly threaten the survival of cultured Babylonia areolata, but the heat tolerance of different geographical populations and the potential for genetic improvement by hybridization remain poorly understood. In this study, four geographical populations (Thailand, TL; Wanning, WN; Zhao’an, ZA; Changle, CL) and four hybrid combinations (TH, HT, TF, and FT) were compared for mortality rate, median lethal temperature (LT₅₀), and critical thermal maximum (CTMax) under controlled thermal stress. The results showed that the low-latitude TL population exhibited significantly higher LT₅₀ (36.49 ± 0.05 °C) and CTMax (35.77 ± 0.52 °C) than the high-latitude CL and ZA populations (LT₅₀: 35.90 ± 0.05–36.02 ± 0.04 °C; CTMax: 35.12 ± 0.77–35.26 ± 0.53 °C). All four hybrids had improved heat tolerance compared with their low parents, with TH and HT showing the strongest mid-parent heterosis (e.g., 73.68–78.94% for survival at 36.5 °C). However, none significantly exceeded the high-parent performance (TL), indicating only mid-parent heterosis. These findings reveal significant genetic variation in heat tolerance among geographical populations of B. areolata and confirm that cross-breeding can effectively enhance heat tolerance, though it does not produce transgressive superiority. This study provides key genetic resources and a theoretical basis for breeding heat-tolerant strains of B. areolata.

Water exchange is linked to survival in aquaculture, but its relationship with host–environment microbial interactions remains unclear. We aimed to characterize host-associated and environmental microbiota in Babylonia areolata (ivory shell) aquaculture, focusing on community relationships, environmental source contributions, associations with water quality, and host survival across water exchange rates. Ivory shells were reared for 60 days at high (100% d ⁻¹ ), medium (50% d ⁻¹ ), and low (0% d ⁻¹ ) water exchange rates. On day 60, water, sand, intestinal, and gill samples (12 samples per treatment) were profiled using 16S rRNA gene V3-V4 amplicon sequencing. The results showed that survival was lower only in the low-exchange group ( p < 0.001). Analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) showed that the host microbiota differed significantly from environmental communities (R = 0.739, p = 0.001). SourceTracker identified sand as the largest environmental contributor; its contribution declined from 48.0 to 21.0% in the intestine and from 65.7 to 30.2% in the gills as the water exchange rate decreased. Reduced water exchange rates were also associated with declines in the relative abundance of intestinal Nautella and gill-associated Ruegeria . Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) identified Halodesulfovibrio as a shared biomarker in both tissues under low water exchange conditions. Redundancy analysis (RDA) identified NO ₃ ⁻ -N and pH as the environmental variables most strongly associated with environmental microbial community structure. Exploratory genus-level correlations showed that rearing water pH was negatively associated with Halodesulfovibrio in both tissues. Collectively, these results indicate that the water exchange rate is associated with host-associated microbial community composition, environmental source contributions, and ivory shell survival. Future studies should investigate the mechanisms underlying the associations among environmental microbial communities, water quality conditions, and host survival, thereby informing microecological management in low water exchange aquaculture systems.