Gut microbial composition varies with host metabolic phenotype in juvenile Atlantic salmon

Standard metabolic rate (SMR) influences growth, behaviour and energy use in fish, yet its relationship with gut microbiota remains unclear. Here, we combined physiological measurements with 16S rRNA sequencing of foregut and hindgut tissue to test whether gut microbial communities differ with metabolic phenotype in juvenile Atlantic salmon. High-SMR fish showed greater growth efficiency and lower body water content than low-SMR fish, indicating higher fat levels. In contrast, microbial differences were most evident in the foregut, where low-SMR fish exhibited significantly higher alpha diversity. Microbial beta-diversity analyses revealed clear segregation among metabolic groups, and distance-based redundancy analysis showed that both SMR and body mass strongly explained variation in foregut microbial composition. Correlation analysis identified a negative association between SMR and members of the Rhodobacteraceae family, which were consistently more abundant in the foregut of low-SMR fish. Together, these findings indicate that the metabolic phenotype is associated with distinct patterns of energy utilisation and gut microbiota composition, suggesting that foregut microbial communities may contribute to individual differences in metabolic strategy.