Gut microbial communities of hybridising pygmy angelfishes reflect species boundaries.

ABSTRACT: Hybridisation and introgression of eukaryotic genomes can generate new species or subsume existing ones, with direct and indirect consequences for biodiversity. An understudied component of these evolutionary forces is their potentially rapid effect on host gut microbiomes, and whether these pliable microcosms may serve as early biological indicators of speciation. We address this hypothesis in a field study of angelfishes (genus Centropyge), which have one of the highest prevalence of hybridisation within coral reef fish. In our study region of the Eastern Indian Ocean, the parent fish species and their hybrids cohabit and display no differences in their diet, behaviour, and reproduction, often interbreeding in mixed harems. Despite this ecological overlap, we show that microbiomes of the

SUBMITTER: Huggett MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10195815 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature