{
  "abstract": "Shark microbiome studies offer acute insights into host health, immunity, and ecological interactions, yet remain poorly studied compared to other marine vertebrates. Shark-associated microbial communities, despite being species-specific, are influenced by environmental conditions and feeding ecology. In this study, we aimed to characterize shifts in the microbiome of the Critically Endangered angelshark (Squatina squatina) during the early stages of development and to assess how environmental factors contribute to the shaping of a specific microbiota. Samples from thirty-nine juvenile angelsharks were collected from Las Teresitas nursery area in the Canary Islands over one year. Skin, oral and cloacal microbiomes were analysed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. The sizes of individuals ranged between 24 and 42 cm in length. The shark microbiome was clearly distinct from the surrounding environment, indicating a unique composition from early life stages. Dominant bacteria present in the shark microbiomes included Vibrionaceae (up to 96%), Pseudoalteromonas (up to 63%), Rhodobacteraceae (up to 57%) and Alteromonadaceae (up to 20%). Seawater had a greater influence than sediment on the external skin microbiome, especially in younger individuals. This was not expected due to the burial behaviour of the species. Notably, the abundance of Pseudoalteromonadaceae (assessed by qPCR) was positively correlated with shark growth but was independent of the skin mucus. This suggests a protective role of this phylotype in younger individuals and may help in the adaptation to habitat conditions. This is the first comprehensive microbiome study in angelsharks, highlighting the importance of environmental preservation for microbial integrity and juvenile fitness.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "IU-ECOAQUA, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain.",
    "Angel Shark Project: Canary Islands, Islas Canarias, Spain.",
    "Group of Molecular Microbial Ecology, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, Girona, Spain.",
    "Universidad del Atlántico Medio, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.",
    "LIB, Museum Koenig Bonn, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change Bonn, Germany."
  ],
  "article_type": "Research Article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 10,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Tomas Bañeras",
      "orcid": "0009-0006-3000-9243"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "David Jiménez-Alvarado",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7164-8125"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Hector Toledo-Padilla"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Laura Camps-Lahora"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "José Juan Castro"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Ana Espino-Ruano"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Airam Guerra-Marrero"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Lorena Couce-Montero"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Eva K M Meyers"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Lluís Bañeras",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6908-3658"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4tq3zs6rpqatd.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0361287",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13716170",
  "id": "4tq3zs6rpqatd",
  "issns": [
    "1932-6203"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0361287",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Anatomy"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Animal Anatomy"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Animal Genital Anatomy"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Animals"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Bacteria"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Biology and Life Sciences"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Body Fluids"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Chondrichthyes"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Cloaca"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Earth Sciences"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Ecological Metrics"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Ecology"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Ecology and Environmental Sciences"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Elasmobranchii"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Eukaryota"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Fish"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Genetics"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Genomics"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Geology"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Medical Microbiology"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Medicine and Health Sciences"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Microbial Genomics"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Microbiology"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Microbiome"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Mucus"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Organisms"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Petrology"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Physiology"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Research Article"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Sediment"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Sedimentary Geology"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Shannon Index"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Sharks"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Species Diversity"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Vertebrates"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Vibrio"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Zoology"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2309|Ichthyology and Marine Biology"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Anatomy/Animal anatomy/Animal genital anatomy/Cloaca"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Anatomy/Body fluids/Mucus"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Ecology/Ecological metrics/Species diversity/Shannon index"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Genomics/Microbial genomics/Microbiome"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Microbiology/Medical microbiology/Microbiome"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Microbiology/Microbial genomics/Microbiome"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Organisms/Bacteria"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Organisms/Bacteria/Vibrio"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Organisms/Eukaryota/Animals/Vertebrates/Fish/Chondrichthyes/Elasmobranchii/Sharks"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Physiology/Body fluids/Mucus"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Zoology/Animal anatomy/Animal genital anatomy/Cloaca"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Zoology/Animals/Vertebrates/Fish/Chondrichthyes/Elasmobranchii/Sharks"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Earth sciences/Geology/Petrology/Sediment"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Earth sciences/Geology/Sedimentary geology/Sediment"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Ecology and environmental sciences/Ecology/Ecological metrics/Species diversity/Shannon index"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Anatomy/Animal anatomy/Animal genital anatomy/Cloaca"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Anatomy/Body fluids/Mucus"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7224084213",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13716170?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13716170",
  "pmid": "42949873",
  "published": "2026-10-28",
  "publisher": "Public Library of Science",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4tq3zs6rpqatd.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:17Z",
      "native_id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0361287",
      "source": "plos",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0361287"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T00:20:33Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42949873",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42949873"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-01T12:23:13Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13716170",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0361287"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "heading:Ecology",
      "subfield": "ecology"
    },
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "heading:Genetics",
      "subfield": "genetics-genomics"
    },
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "heading:Microbiology",
      "subfield": "microbiology"
    },
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "heading:Geology",
      "subfield": "geology-geochemistry"
    },
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "plos:anatomy",
      "subfield": "physiology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Microbiome plasticity during the early life-stage of the angelshark (Squatina squatina) in Las Teresitas (Canary Islands)",
  "title_text": "Microbiome plasticity during the early life-stage of the angelshark (Squatina squatina) in Las Teresitas (Canary Islands)",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-01T12:23:13Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4tq3zs6rpqatd",
  "venue": "PLOS One",
  "versions": []
}