Characterising the gut microbiomes of two baleen whales with different feeding and migratory strategies
Along with species-specific microbiomes, our findings also suggest that migratory behaviour and foraging patterns - key aspects of cetacean life history - may substantially influence gut microbiome composition. The characterisation of the gut microbiomes of the two whales provides a valuable baseline for the future monitoring of cetaceans and their environments.
Authors
- Richard O’Rorke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9304-2677)
- Aashi Parikh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4202-0072)
- Emma L. Carroll (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3193-7288)
- Els Vermeulen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3667-1290)
- Anthony A. Chariton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5809-3372)
- Robert G. Harcourt
- Stephanie Plön
- Rochelle Constantine
- William J. Rayment
Institutions
- University of Auckland (NZ)
- BioConsult SH (Germany) (DE)
- University of Pretoria (ZA)
- University of Otago (NZ)
- Macquarie University (AU)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Animal Microbiome
- Published
- 2026-03-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s42523-026-00538-9
- Primary Topic
- Marine animal studies overview
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00