Characterization and Ecology of Carboxymethylcellulase-Producing Anaerobic Bacterial Communities Associated with the Intestinal Tract of the Pinfish, Lagodon rhomboides

Carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase)-producing obligate anaerobes were isolated from the intestinal tract contents but not the feeding habitat of seagrass-consuming pinfish. Taxonomic characterization of these CMCase-producing strains revealed four taxonomic clusters; three were clostridial and one was of unknown taxonomic affinity. Our results demonstrated that the CMCase-producing obligate anaerobe community from pinfish differed from functionally similar microbial communities in terrestrial herbivores.