Background Gut microbes significantly contribute to nutrient digestion and absorption, intestinal health and immunity, and are essential for the survival and environmental adaptation of wild animals. However, there are few studies on the gut microbiota of captive and wild North China leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis). Results A total of 10 mainly bacterial phyla were identified in the fecal microbiota of North China leopard, Lachnoclostridium (p = 0.003), Peptoclostridium (p = 0.005), Bacteroides (p = 0.008), Fusobacterium (p = 0.017) and Collinsella (p = 0.019) were significantly higher than those of wild North China leopard. Distinct differences in the fecal metabolic phenotypes of captive and wild North China leopard were found, such as content of l-methionine, n-acetyl-l-tyrosine, pentadecanoic acid and oleic acid. Differentially abundant gut microbes were associated with fecal metabolites, especially the bacteria in Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, involved in the metabolism of N-acetyl-L-alanine and D-quinovose. Conclusion This study reports for the first time the differences in gut microbiota abundance between captive and wild North China leopard, as well as significant differences in fecal metabolic phenotypes between two groups.

Summary Length–weight relationships (LWRs) were determined for three cyprinid fish species [Acrossocheilus yunnanensis (Regan, 1904), Onychostoma simum (Sauvage & Dabry de Thiersant, 1874) and Spinibarbus sinensis (Bleeker, 1871)] from southwestern China. Samples were obtained with various fishing gear (set nets, drift gill nets, fish cages, hook and electrofishing). Prior to this study, the LWRs for these three species (A. yunnanensis, O. simum and S. sinensis) were unknown.

Background Gut microbes has become one of the research hotspots in animal ecology, playing an important role in monitoring dietary adaptation and health status of host. However, there are few studies on the gut microbiota in the stomach, smallintestine (ileum), and large intestine (cecum, colon, and rectum) of wild boar. Results Alpha diversity and Beta diversity showed there were significant differences in the abundance and distribution of microbes in gastrointestinal tract of wild boar. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the most dominant phyla in stomach, cecum, colon and rectum of wild boar, while Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were the most dominant in ileum. At genus level, there were different leading genera in stomach (Prevotella and Lactobacillus), small intestine (Escherichia-Shigella and Lactobacillus), and large intestine (Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005, Christensenellaceae_R-7_group, and Escherichia-Shigella). PICRUSt function predictive analysis suggested that there were significant differences in microbial metabolic pathways among five locations of wild boar. Conclusions This study comprehensively revealed the differences in composition of microbial community in gastrointestinal trac of wild boar. Future work links microbes with the metabolites to accurately reveal the health of wild boar.