Marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma) has been recognized as an ideal
marine model fish widely used in the estuary and marine toxicological studies because
of multiple favorable attributes, such as small size, short generation cycle, transparent
embryos, sexual dimorphism, ease of maintenance, and wide range of salinity and
temperature adaptations. Many studies have been conducted on both wild-type and
transgenic fish O. melastigma model to evaluate the adverse effects by selecting
specific biomarkers of the estuary and marine environmental pollutants. This review
provides a recent research progress of the physiological effects and responsive
biomarker of O. melastigma caused by various marine pollutants, including heavy
metals, endocrine disruptors, and organic pollutants. Of note, this chapter summarizes
the progress on whole-genome sequencing of O. melastigma, and promotes novel
insights into the use of O. melastigma in future toxicity screening studies, targeting
genetic biomarkers that highly activated by marine chemical pollutants using cuttingedge
gene editing technique and bioinformatics system.
Keywords: Endocrine Disrupting Cmpounds (EDCs), Environmental
Xenobiotics, Heavy Metals, Organic Pollutants, Transgenic Fish, Toxicology.
