A new study published in Frontiers in Microbiology reveals that tropical octocorals (Litophyton sp.) kept at Oceanário de Lisboa for over 25 years still host several microorganisms typically found in wild octocorals in the Red Sea.
Researchers discovered that while surrounding seawater microbial communities varied significantly between reef and aquarium settings, the octocoral Litophyton sp. maintained a similar set of core microbial symbionts. Key microbial families such as Endozoicomonadaceae, Spirochaetaceae, and Kiloniellaceae were consistently associated with the octocoral across both habitats, highlighting the resilience of host–microbe partnerships outside the ocean.
The findings suggest that large-scale aquarium systems can partially preserve natural microbiomes of corals for decades, offering valuable new opportunities for coral research and conservation.
The study was led by PhD student Matilde Marques and resulted from a collaboration between Oceanário de Lisboa, the Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR; Francisco Pascoal), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST; Helena Villela and Raquel Peixoto), and the iBB – Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences at Instituto Superior Técnico (Tina Keller-Costa and Rodrigo Costa, who co-coordinated the research).
Link to the study: Marques et al., 2025: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1651109