Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2026, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (4): 63-76.doi: 10.11978/2025185CSTR: 32234.14.2025185

• Marine Ecology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Analysis of bacterial diversity and environmental factors in the Pearl Bay Trachinotus ovatus Linnaeus aquaculture area

JIA Suxiao1(), ZHANG Ruirui1, WU Xiaoke1, QIU Yueshan1, LI Qiying1, OU Haixu1, SUN Guoling1, CHANG Taoqi1, XU Youhou1(), CAI Shuanghu2   

  1. 1 Guangxi Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Disaster Processes and Ecological Protection Technology, Beibu Gulf Marine Ecological Environment Field Observation and Research Station of Guangxi, College of Marine Sciences, Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou 535011, China
    2 College of Fisheries, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524088, China
  • Received:2025-10-07 Revised:2025-10-25 Online:2026-07-10 Published:2026-07-31
  • Contact: XU Youhou. email:
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(U20A2065)

Abstract:

This study aims to evaluate bacterial diversity in the seawater of the Pearl Bay Trachinotus ovatus Linnaeus aquaculture area and its relationship with environmental factors, providing scientific support for optimizing the aquaculture environment and improving efficiency. Seawater samples collected from March 2024 to February 2025 were analyzed for physicochemical parameters, and high-throughput sequencing was used to assess bacterial diversity across different seasons and sampling sites. The relationships between bacterial community structure and environmental conditions were further investigated. Overall, the physicochemical properties of seawater in the Pearl Bay aquaculture area exhibited significant spatiotemporal variations, particularly a significantly higher chlorophyll a concentration in the summer samples collected inside the cages (N-sum) compared with the winter samples collected outside the cages (W-win). The bacterial communities were classified into 23 phyla, 47 classes, 102 orders, 187 families, and 271 genera, with Pseudomonadota being the dominant phylum, accounting for 48.45% to 53.20% of the relative abundance. Seasonal variation had a notable impact on bacterial communities: the alpha diversity indices (Ace, Chao1, Simpson, and Shannon) of the spring samples from the non-aquaculture area (C-spr) were significantly lower than those of the autumn samples from inside the cages (N-aut) (P<0.05), likely due to seasonal changes in temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen. Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that salinity, temperature, and nitrate were the major environmental factors significantly influencing bacterial community structure. Mantel tests and correlation analyses further confirmed nitrate as the primary environmental driver of community structure. Functional prediction using PICRUSt2 (phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states 2) showed that bacterial functions were mainly associated with metabolic processes, genetic information processing, and cellular information processing. This study demonstrates that seawater in the Pearl Bay T. ovatus Linnaeus aquaculture area harbors diverse bacterial communities shaped by multiple environmental factors, among which nitrate plays a particularly pivotal role. These findings provide essential baseline data for the development of marine aquaculture and offer valuable insights for the scientific prevention and understanding of disease dynamics in the Pearl Bay cage aquaculture system.

Key words: Trachinotus ovatus Linnaeus, bacterial community, environmental factors, correlation, high-throughput sequencing, Pearl Bay

CLC Number: 

  • P735