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Science 5 July 1985:
Vol. 229. no. 4708, pp. 49 - 51
DOI: 10.1126/science.229.4708.49
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Articles

A Unique Symbiosis in the Gut of Tropical Herbivorous Surgeonfish (Acanthuridae: Teleostei) from the Red Sea

Herbivorous surgeonfish (Acanthurus species) in the Red Sea harbor gut symbionts that include bacteria, trichomonadid flagellates, and a peculiar putative protist that attains densities of 20,000 to 100,000 cells per milliliter of gut contents. The structure, mode of reproduction, and within-gut distribution of the latter are described. This may be the first report of an organism of this type and the first evidence of a consistent endosymbiosis in the gut of a herbivorous marine fish.

Submitted on September 24, 1984
Accepted on January 30, 1984


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