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Figure 4. Heatmap resulting from the LEfSe analysis showing differentially abundant bacterial ASVs between coral tissue and skeleton. Specifically, ASVs with log(LDA) >3 (Kruskal-Wallis test: p<0.05) and present in at least 10 samples (inclusive of tissue and skeleton) were considered differentially abundant and their abundance was z-score transformed (legend on the top right, darker red indicating more abundant bacteria). On the top are reported the tissue (Tis.) and skeleton (Ske.) of each coral species analyzed in this study, their clade (Robust or Complex) and their reproductive mode (Spawner, Brooder or Mixed). On the left are reported the taxonomic classification of the differentially abundant bacterial ASVs at the genus, family (f), order (o) or class (c) level. Bold taxa represent the bacterial groups discussed in the manuscript. Tissue and skeleton microbiomes differed in terms of bacterial abundances. Bacteria that preferentially colonized the tissue included Alteromonas, Endozoicomonas, Halomonas, Pseudoalteromonas, Vibrio and Woesia, while among those that preferentially colonized the skeleton were “Candidatus Amoebophilus”, Kiloniellaceae, Myxococcales, Rhizobiales and Spirochaeta. The heatmap also shows that the microbiome of each coral species is characterized by a few abundant and many rare bacteria. The coral species A. aspera and G. retiformis are not shown in the heatmap because LeFSe analysis did not detect differences between their tissue and skeletal microbiomes.