Microbiomes of fish, sediment and seagrass suggest connectivity of coral reef microbial populations.

Abstract

The benthic environments of coral reefs are heavily shaped by physiochemical factors, but also the ecological interactions of the animals and plants in the reef ecosystem. Microbial populations may be shared within the ecosystem of sediments, seagrasses and reef fish. In this study, we hypothesize that coral reef and seagrass environments share members of the microbial community that are rare in some habitats and enriched in others, and that animals may integrate this connectivity. We investigated the potential connectivity between the microbiomes of sediments, seagrass blades and roots (Syringodium isoetifolium), and a seagrass-specialist parrotfish (C. spinidens) guts in reef areas of Fiji. We contrasted these with sediment samples from the Florida Keys, gut samples from surgeonfish (A. nigricauda, Acanthurinae sp. unknown, C. striatus), and ocean water microbiomes from the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans to test the robustness of our characterizations of microbiome environments. In general, water, sediment and fish gut samples were all distinct microbiomes. Sediment microbiomes were mostly similar between Fiji and Florida, but also showed some regional similarities. In Fiji, we show connectivity of a shared microbiome between seagrass, fish and sediments. Additionally, we identified an environmental reservoir of a surgeonfish symbiont, Epulopiscium. The connection of these ecosystem components suggests that the total microbiome of these environments may vary as their animal inhabitants shift in a changing ocean.