Flatfish intestinal microbiota depend on various host traits, and vary with sediment type and bottom trawling effort.

ABSTRACT: The intestinal microbiota of fishes support digestion, nutrient uptake and play an important role in the immune system, development and reproduction. Flatfish live in close contact with the seafloor, and are particularly exposed to anthropogenic disturbances such as bottom trawling. Bottom trawling impacts the ecosystem in various ways and recent evidence indicates that the microbial composition and diversity in marine sediments varies with fishing intensity. It is presently unknown whether this trawling signal applies to the seafloor alone or also extends to microbiota of marine holobionts inhabiting it, such as flatfishes. Here, three flatfish species (Buglossidium luteum, Limanda limanda and Pleuronectes platessa) were sampled across the southeastern North Sea. We characterized the inte

SUBMITTER: Gwinner M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12774904 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature