A Risky Business? Habitat and Social Behavior Impact Skin and Gut Microbiomes in Caribbean Cleaning Gobies

Conclusion The results from this study showed that the bacterial communities of the skin of the two alternative ecotypes of E. prochilos can be distinguished using 16S rRNA gene sequences, even amongst fish captured only 10 s of meters apart. Furthermore, the skin microbiome of coral-dwelling gobies (cleaners) harbors higher bacterial diversity, including a significantly higher proportion of potential fish pathogens (e.g., Vibrio and Photobacterium). We propose that habitat use, diet and social engagement, due to frequent physical contact with potential diseased clients, could lead to significant differences in the diversity and abundance of pathogenic bacteria between cleaner and non-cleaner ecotypes of E. prochilos. Ethics Statement This study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU) in Barbados. The protocol was approved by the Minister of Environment on behalf of the CZUM (permit reference number: CZ01/9/9). Author Contributions RX, MS, and RM conceived the work. RM collected the fish. RX and JS conducted the laboratory work. RX, MP-L, and DR conducted data analysis. All authors contributed to writing the manuscript. Funding RX, MS, MP-L, AV, and DR were currently supported by FCT under the Programa Operacional Potencial Humano – Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional funds from the European Social Fund and Portuguese Ministério da Educação e Ciência (MS: SF...
Source: Frontiers in Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research