Comparative analysis of the fecal bacterial communities of hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) and green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas)

Abstract

Abstract Hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) are important for maintaining healthy coral reef ecosystems currently qualify as “critically endangered” by the IUCN. Their gut microbiota is closely linked to host nutrition and health, however, the gut microbiota of hawksbill sea turtles from a natural reserve remains unclear. Therefore, exploring their microbial community structure in a natural reserve may provide valuable information on strategies for protecting this species. In this study, we investigated hawksbill sea turtle fecal microbial communities from a natural reserve using 16S metagenomics and compared the gut microbiota from fecal samples of hawksbill and green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas). The results indicated that the structure of fecal microbial communities was significantly different between hawksbill and green sea turtles. In hawksbill sea turtles, the three dominant phyla were Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Fusobacteria, whereas the fecal microbial communities of green sea turtles were mainly composed of Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria. Among the hawksbill sea turtle fecal microbes, the predominant genera were Cetobacterium and Rikenell, whereas in green sea turtles, the predominant genera were Bacteroides and Paludibacter. In addition, predictive metagenomic analysis indicated that sugar catabolism was enriched in green sea turtle fecal microbiota, whereas pathways related to secondary metabolite production were enriched in hawksbill sea turtle fecal microbiota. Our study provides preliminary data on the fecal microbiota features of sea turtles from the natural reserve, which may contribute to the management of the food requirements and long-term conservation of hawksbill sea turtles.