Host specificity shapes fish viromes across lakes on an isolated remote island

The Chatham Island, an island 800km east of the South Island of New Zealand, houses around 9% of New Zealand's threatened endemic fish species and presents a unique virosphere to explore questions about virus-host co-evolution. Here, we documented the viromes of seven fish species across the Chatham Island and investigated how ecological factors, including life history, seawater influence, and community richness may influence virome diversity.