Kayan MA

Profile

Ka Yan MA
Gender: Female
Mentor type: PhD Mentor
Email: majx26@mail.sysu.edu.cn
Webpage: https: //abel-sysu.github.io/en/

Research interests

We are a vibrant research group dedicated to the study of aquatic biology, biodiversity, and evolution. Based in southern China, our work centers on the highly diverse fauna of the Indo-West Pacific—a region recognized not only as a global biodiversity hotspot but also as an area increasingly threatened by climate change and intensifying anthropogenic pressures. We strive to understand the evolutionary history of aquatic organisms across marine-terrestrial interfaces and freshwater systems, and to elucidate their adaptive responses to environmental gradients such as temperature, salinity, and anthropogenic pollution.

Our current research encompasses the following themes:
・ Phylogenomics and physiological phylogenetics of crustaceans
・ Biogeography and evolutionary biology of freshwater Decapoda
・ Biodiversity surveys and conservation of aquatic fauna in karst caves of southwestern China
・ Evolutionary biology and conservation genetics of coral reef fishes

For more information: https: //abel-sysu.github.io/en/join/
 

Education

•  2015 PhD in Marine Biology: James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
•  2009 MPhil in Biology: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
•  2006 BSc in Biology: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Work experience

• 2020.10-present Associate Professor @ Sun Yat-sen University, China
• 2018-2020.10 Postdoctoral fellow @ The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
• 2015-2018 Research Associate @ The Chinese University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong, China
• 2009-2010 Research Assistant @ University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Academic achievements

Awards: 

• 2012 Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Award, in the category of Natural Sciences (Second Class), from the Ministry of Education, China (third accomplisher)
• 2010 - 2014 James Cook University International Research Scholar
• 2008 Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Research Fellowship

Major academic affiliations: 

• Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Member of the China Species Specialist Group, and the Grouper and Wrasse Specialist Group
• Associate Edior of Crustaceana
• Review Editor of Frontiers in Marine Science (Marine Molecular Biology and Ecology section) and Topic Editor of Frontiers in Genetics
• Reviewer for journals including Ecology and Evolution, Frontiers in Marine Science, Journal of Crustacean Biology, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, PLOS One, Royal Society Open Science, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Zoological Scripta, and Zoological Studies

Grants

• National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Youth Science Fund Project: "Historical biogeography of potamid crabs in Southern China: a phylogenomic perspective ", January 2023 – December 2025, Principal Investigator
• Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation, Youth Fund Project: "Exploring the spatiotemporal pattern of adaptive evolution of Thoracotremata crabs using phylogenomics", October 2021 – September 2024, Principal Investigator
• Research and conservation of stygobitic fauna in Karst caves of Southwestern China. Conservation Fund, Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong, July 2024 – December 2029, Principal Investigator

Publications

Publication list (55 international research papers): 

• https://abel-sysu.github.io/en/publications/
• https: //www.researchgate.net/profile/Kayan_Ma
• https: //orcid.org/0000-0001-5690-2319

Representative papers from the past 5 years (*Corresponding author；†Co-first author): 

• Cheng Z, Ma KY* (2025). Historical Biogeography of Penaeus Prawns (Crustacea: Decapoda: Penaeidae). Journal of Biogeography, 25, e70056.
• Liu Y†, Bian C†, Ma KY†, Yang Y, Wang Y, Liu C, Ouyang G, Xu M, Sun J, Shao C, Chen J, Shi Q*, Mu X*. (2025) Reference genome provides insights into sex determination of silver aworana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum). BMC Biology, 23, 29.
• Wang Y, Chu KH, Ma KY* (2024) Description of a new species of freshwater shrimp (Decapoda: Caridea: Atyidae) from Mount Danxia, Guangdong, China, based on morphological and molecular evidence. Zootaxa. 5476, 447-62.
• Yu HY, Chu KH, Tsang LM, Ma KY* (2024) Incomplete lineage sorting and long-branch attraction confound phylogenomic inference of Pancrustacea. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 12,1243221.
• Wu Z, Chu KH, Ma KY* (2023) Transcriptome analysis of multiple tissues in the shrimp Penaeus vannamei reveals the typical physiological response to three pathogens. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 11, 389.
• Yang CH†, Ma KY†, Chu KH, Chan TY (2023) Making sense of the taxonomy of the most commercially important shrimps Penaeus Fabricius, 1798 s.l. (Crustacea:Decapoda:Penaeidae), a way forward. Aquaculture, 563, 738955.
• Mu X*, Yang Y, Sun J, … Ma KY* (2022) FishPIE:A universal phylogenetically informative exon markers set for ray-finned fishes. iScience, 25, 105025. 
• Chow LH, Tsang LM, Chu KH, Ma KY* (2022) Genetic assessment of the rare freshwater shrimp Caridina logemanni endemic to Hong Kong and its hybridisation with a widespread congener. https: //doi.org/10.1071/MF21192
• Ma KY, Chow LH, Tsang LM, De Grave S, Chu KH (2021) Contrasting population structures of freshwater atyid shrimps in Hong Kong and their conservation implications. Marine and Freshwater Research. 72, 1667-1678
• Cui Z, Liu Y, Yuan J, Zhang X, Ventura T, Ma KY… Li F, Chu KH (2021) The Chinese mitten crab genome provides insights into adaptive plasticity and developmental regulation. Nature Communications. 12, 2395.
• Veldsman WP, Ma KY, Hui JH, Chan TF, Baeza JA, Qin J, Chu KH. (2021) Comparative genomics of the coconut crab and other decapod crustaceans:exploring the molecular basis of terrestrial adaptation. BMC Genomics. 22(1): 1-5.
• Yang Y, Ma KY, Cheung MK, Yang C-H, Wang Y, Hu X, Kwan HS, Chu KH (2021) Gut microbiota in decapod shrimps:evidence of phylosymbiosis. Microbial Ecology. https: //doi.org/10.1007/s00248-021-01720-z