Analysis Of The Rockskipper Blenny

INTRODUCTION Istiblennius lineatus is a member of the family Blenniidae, the combtooth blennies, and is further classified in the tribe Salaniiri. Combtooth blennies have long, slender bodies, long dorsal and anal fins, and a rounded head (Hastings and Springer 2009). Commonly called the Rockskipper Blenny or the Lined Rockskipper, I. lineatus has been observed living in the supralittoral and midlittoral zone of tide pools (Kimura 2015, Kimura and Sakai 2016). It occupies a large range in the Indo-West Pacific, in both tropical and sub-tropical zones (Briggs 1999). This fish has also been found to have high resistance to water loss (Dabruzzi et al. 2011) and many members of the mudskipper and rockskipper family, including Istiblennius lineatus,

1985, Brown et al. 1991). The Rockskipper Blenny’s diet consists of detritus and plant material (Hundt et al. 2014). Beyond this information, not much is known about Istiblennius lineatus.

Part A of the experiment focuses on the Rockskipper Blenny population on the island of Mo’orea, French Polynesia and how isolation effects the microbiome of the fish. Mo’orea consists of many tidal pools, the ideal habitat for the Rockskipper Blenny. Because these fish are found living in the supralittoral and midlittoral zone of tide pools, populations in each tide pool are possibly isolated from each other. If different tide pools experience different environmental conditions and pressures, this could act as geographic isolation, which could lead to allopatric speciation and reproductive isolation over a large time frame (Mayr 1942). Proof of different animal-microbes interactions over large geographic regions have been shown for coral-microbe interactions (LaJeunesse et al. 2010), but

Istiblennius lineatus (Rockskipper Blenny) will be collected from three different tide pools across the island of Mo’orea, French Polynesia in May 2017. Fish will be caught with nets and stored in tanks at UNC Berkley’s Gump Field Station before transport back to Atlanta for use in the lab manipulative portion. Two algal species that The Rockskipper Blenny uses as food sources will also be collected. The algae species collected will be the same for each of the three tide pools and are preferably from two different families of algae. Initial samples from each fish and alga, as well as water samples will be taken in field for 16s gene sequencing to determine the microbial composition. Samples will be stored in RNA and frozen prior to DNA extraction and sequencing. Water samples will be stored in ethanol. The initial fish gut and algae sample will be used to compare the effect of isolation on fish gut microbiome. The water sample will be used to determine differences in water microbial composition between tide pool