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Reef Location and Client Diversity Influence the Skin Microbiome of the Caribbean Cleaner Goby Elacatinus evelynae

  • Microbiology of Aquatic Systems
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Abstract

Fish-associated microorganisms are known to be affected by the environment and other external factors, such as microbial transfer between interacting partners. One of the most iconic mutualistic interactions on coral reefs is the cleaning interactions between cleaner fishes and their clients, during which direct physical contact occurs. Here, we characterized the skin bacteria of the Caribbean cleaner sharknose goby, Elacatinus evelynae, in four coral reefs of the US Virgin Islands using sequencing of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. We specifically tested the relationship between gobies’ level of interaction with clients and skin microbiota diversity and composition. Our results showed differences in microbial alpha- and beta-diversity in the skin of gobies from different reef habitats and high inter-individual variation in microbiota diversity and structure. Overall, the results showed that fish-to-fish direct contact and specifically, access to a diverse clientele, influences the bacterial diversity and structure of cleaner gobies’ skin. Because of their frequent contact with clients, and therefore, high potential for microbial exchange, cleaner fish may serve as models in future studies aiming to understand the role of social microbial transfer in reef fish communities.

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Data availability

Raw sequence reads are available in the NCBI’s Short Read Archive under accession PRJNA756005.

Code availability

Not applicable.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Center for Marine and Environmental Studies (CMES) and the Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station (VIERS) of the University of the Virgin Islands for logistical support. Thanks also to Matthew Nicholson, Gina Hendrick, and Andres Pagan for assisting with field logistics. This work is contribution number 238 from the University of the Virgin Islands Center for Marine and Environmental Studies.

Funding

Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation awards OCE-2023420 to PCS and OCE-2022955 to AA, and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the COMPETE program and by the National Funds through Foundation for Science and Technology (project PTDC/BIA-MIC/27995/2017 POCI-01–0145- FEDER-027995) to RX. RX was also supported by Foundation for Science and Technology (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 (IF/00359/2015; and 2020.00854.CEECIND/CP1601/CT0001). M.C.S. was supported by Portuguese National Funds through Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) (DL57/2016/CP1440/CT0019). Field data were collected with support from NSF OCE-1536794 to PCS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal

    Ana Pereira, Marta C. Soares, Teresa Santos, Ana Poças, Marcos Pérez-Losada & Raquel Xavier

  2. Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, 4099-002, Portugal

    Ana Pereira

  3. BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal

    Ana Pereira, Marta C. Soares, Teresa Santos, Ana Poças, Marcos Pérez-Losada & Raquel Xavier

  4. Computational Biology Institute, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC, 20052, USA

    Marcos Pérez-Losada

  5. Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    Amy Apprill

  6. Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149, USA

    Paul C. Sikkel

  7. Water Research Group, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, Potchefstroom Campus, North West University, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa

    Paul C. Sikkel

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  1. Ana Pereira
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  2. Marta C. Soares
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  3. Teresa Santos
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  4. Ana Poças
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  5. Marcos Pérez-Losada
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  6. Amy Apprill
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  7. Paul C. Sikkel
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  8. Raquel Xavier
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Correspondence to Ana Pereira.

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Fish were collected under permit number DFW18072U from the US Virgin Islands Division of Fish and Wildlife and permit number VIIS-2018-SCI-0008 for sites within the Virgin Islands National Park, and under IACUC ethics protocol number 778227–1, PC Sikkel, PI.

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Pereira, A., Soares, M., Santos, T. et al. Reef Location and Client Diversity Influence the Skin Microbiome of the Caribbean Cleaner Goby Elacatinus evelynae. Microb Ecol 85, 372–382 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-022-01984-z

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