The Caribbean bonefish species Albula vulpes is an economically important nearshore marine sport fish that has notably declined in the Florida Keys over the past 20–30 years. The reasons for this decline are unclear, although habitat loss, water quality reductions, climate change, and other environmental drivers likely play a role. Infectious disease can also cause precipitous species-specific declines in wildlife populations, but virtually nothing is known about infection in bonefish. We analyzed communities of bacteria on the gills of bonefish from the Florida Keys, where declines are pronounced, and the islands of Eleuthera and Inagua in The Bahamas, where no such declines have been recorded. Bacterial community composition varied significantly among island location (Keys, Eleuthera, Inagua) and among sites within island locations (e.g., tidal creeks, coves, inlets). Seventeen times more bacterial taxa were over-represented in the Florida Keys than in The Bahamas, and several bacterial genera over-represented in the Florida Keys have been linked to environmental contamination and disease (e.g., Corynebacterium; Acholeplasma; Staphylococcus; and Streptococcus). These results show that gill bacterial community signatures may prove useful for investigating bonefish spatial ecology and that communities of microbes on bonefish gills contain differentially abundant and potentially pathogenic bacteria that covary with the overall “health” of the population.

中文翻译：

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佛罗里达群岛和巴哈马的鲭鱼（Albula vulpes）鳃上的细菌群落显示了疾病相关细菌的空间结构和差异丰度

加勒比海骨鱼物种 Albula vulpes 是一种具有重要经济意义的近岸海洋运动鱼类，在过去 20-30 年间，佛罗里达群岛的数量显着减少。这种下降的原因尚不清楚，尽管栖息地丧失、水质下降、气候变化和其他环境驱动因素可能发挥了作用。传染病也可能导致野生动物种群的物种特异性急剧下降，但实际上对骨鱼的感染一无所知。我们分析了佛罗里达群岛（佛罗里达群岛）和巴哈马群岛的伊柳塞拉岛和伊那瓜岛（未记录到此类下降）的骨鱼鳃上的细菌群落。细菌群落组成在岛屿位置（Keys、Eleuthera、Inagua）和岛屿位置（例如，潮汐小溪、海湾、入口）。佛罗里达群岛的细菌分类群比巴哈马多 17 倍，佛罗里达群岛的几个细菌属与环境污染和疾病有关（例如棒状杆菌、无胆原体、葡萄球菌和链球菌）。这些结果表明，鳃细菌群落特征可能有助于研究硬骨鱼的空间生态学，并且硬骨鱼鳃上的微生物群落含有差异丰富的潜在致病细菌，这些细菌与种群的整体“健康”相关。佛罗里达群岛中的一些细菌属与环境污染和疾病有关（例如棒状杆菌、无胆原体、葡萄球菌和链球菌）。这些结果表明，鳃细菌群落特征可能有助于研究硬骨鱼的空间生态学，并且硬骨鱼鳃上的微生物群落含有差异丰富的潜在致病细菌，这些细菌与种群的整体“健康”相关。佛罗里达群岛中的一些细菌属与环境污染和疾病有关（例如棒状杆菌、无胆原体、葡萄球菌和链球菌）。这些结果表明，鳃细菌群落特征可能有助于研究硬骨鱼的空间生态学，并且硬骨鱼鳃上的微生物群落含有差异丰富的潜在致病细菌，这些细菌与种群的整体“健康”相关。