Role of cleaner gobies on re-establishing skin microbial diversity of two common client fish after disturbance

Microbial diversity of cleaner gobies is suggested to increase with cleaning interactions with multiple fishes, with studies suggesting that cleaner fish may have an important role in the microbial dynamics of coral reef ecosystems through their direct contact with other fishes and, therefore, potential transfer of microbes. In this study, we tested the effect of the neon goby Elacatinus oceanops in the skin microbiome of two common client fish - the four-eyed butterflyfish, Chaetodon capistratus and the ocean surgeonfish, Acanthurus bahianus, after subjected to a 5-day antibiotic bath.