A non-lethal method for the sampling of the gut microbiota in <i>Betta splendens</i>.

ABSTRACT: The gut microbiota is known to modulate brain function and behavior but the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. In particular, research on the impact of gut microbiota in aggressive behavior is scarce. The Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) has been increasingly used for studies of aggression but methodologies for gut microbiota-aggression studies are lacking for the species. Here, we compared the gut microbial diversity in B. splendens using a conventional lethal gut sampling technique and a non-lethal mouth swabbing method. Bacterial communities were profiled by 16S rRNA gene sequencing targeting the V3-V4 region. Alpha diversity analyses, including observed amplicon sequence variants (ASV), Shannon diversity index, Chao1 richness estimator, and Faith's

SUBMITTER: Pun KI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12917903 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature