Diet and gut microbiome of skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) as indicators of ecosystem and environmental changes

Understanding the relationship between environmental changes and marine ecosystem dynamics is crucial, especially under the influence of climate events such as the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The diet and gut microbiome of marine predators have the potential to efficiently, timely, and reliably indicate impacts of environmental and ecosystem changes, especially with the assistance of high throughput sequencing (HTS) technology. This study investigated the gut content and microbiome of skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) collected in the central Pacific Ocean during a transitional period of ENSO phases, shifting from a strong La Nina phase to a weak El Nino phase, aiming to evaluate the impacts of ENSO and other environmental factors on marine food webs and microbiome dynamics of skipjack tuna.