High-throughput sequencing of intestinal contents of nine herbivorous coral reef fishes from Xisha Islands, China

Herbivorous fishes exhibited an important role in controlling macroalgae expansion on coral reefs. Understanding the feeding selectivity and consumption capability of macroalgae by herbivorous fishes can be challenging in ecological function of herbivorous fishes in promoting coral reefs to recover and resist.Here, we took 18S rRNA high-throughput sequencing analysIs to examine the diet spectrum of 9 herbivorous reef fishes common in Xisha Islands.