Early developmental processes significantly influence growth and maturation patterns, aquaculture traits that are critical for physiological adaptation and productivity. The vestigial-like family member 3 gene (vgll3) plays a key role in growth and maturation across diverse taxa, including mammals and teleost fishes. A single-nucleotide polymorphism in vgll3 (SNPvgll3) shows evidence of selection under aquaculture conditions in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), as demonstrated by pre