Abstract:MyomiRs, a class of muscle-specific microRNAs (miRNAs), play an important role in the proliferation and differentiation of myoblasts. This study investigated the spatio-temporal expression characteristics of four myomiRs (miR-1a,miR-133a-3p, miR-206, and miR-499) in Chinese perch (Siniperca chuatsi), as well as their expression features under short-term starvation stress, and predicted their regulation of Pax7. The expressions of the four myomiRs in various tissues of Chinese perch, induding white muscle at different stages of post embryonic development and white muscle after 5 days of starvation, were examined by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. Then, the targeting sites of the four myomiRs on the 3′-untranslated region (UTR) of Pax7 mRNA were predicted using RNAhybrid. The results showed that miR-1a,miR-133a-3p, and miR-206 were highly expressed at D60 (60 days post hatching), while miR-499 was highly expressed at D100. Furthermore, miR-1a andmiR-133a-3p were highly expressed in red muscle, white muscle, and the heart, yet low expressed in other tissues. miR-206 was highly expressed in red muscle and white muscle, while miR-499 was highly expressed in heart, followed by red muscle and white muscle, and was low expressed in other tissues without a significant difference observed. The expressions of all four myomiRs increased significantly after 5 days of starvation, suggesting that skeletal muscle may respond to starvation stress by upregulating the expression of the four myomiRs to regulate physiological processes such as metabolism. Target gene prediction analysis showed that miR-1a,miR-133a-3p, and miR-206 had binding sites on the 3′-UTR of Pax7. Further verification by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR showed that the expression of miR-206 and Pax7 at various post embryonic developmental stages and the circadian rhythms of the Chinese perch were in opposite trends. These results suggest that miR-1a andmiR-133a-3p are muscle-specific, while miR-206 and miR-499 are enriched in muscle-derived tissues. In addition, miR-206 may directly regulate the expression of Pax7, thus affecting the differentiation and development of muscle tissue in juvenile Chinese perch.