Organismal communities associated with coral reefs, particularly invertebrates and microbes, play crucial roles in ecosystem maintenance and coral health. Here, we characterized the organismal composition of a healthy, non-urbanized reef (Site A) and a degraded, urbanized reef (Site B) in the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba, Red Sea to assess its impact on coral health and physiology. Biomimetically designed terracotta tiles were conditioned for 6 months at both sites, then reciprocally transplanted, and scleractinian coral species, Acropora eurystoma and Stylophora pistillata, were attached for an additional 6 months. After 12 months, tiles from Site A transplanted to Site B exhibited greater invertebrate richness and diversity than Site B’s original tiles (via Cytochrome c. Oxidase subunit I metabarcoding). Key bacteria from the healthy reef were more prevalent on Site A tiles and on the tiles transplanted to Site B (via 16S rRNA gene sequencing). Corals originally from Site B attached to transplanted healthy tiles (Site A) showed higher photochemical capacity, increased endosymbionts, and reduced physiological stress, measured by total antioxidant capacity and an integrated biomarker response. Our findings demonstrate the successful transfer of organismal communities between reefs, highlighting the potential benefits of healthy reef-associated invertebrates and microbes on coral physiology and their implications for reef restoration strategies.

与珊瑚礁相关的生物群落，特别是无脊椎动物和微生物，在生态系统维护和珊瑚健康方面发挥着至关重要的作用。在这里，我们表征了红海埃拉特湾/亚喀巴湾一个健康的、非城市化的珊瑚礁（地点 A）和一个退化的城市化珊瑚礁（地点 B）的生物组成，以评估其对珊瑚健康和生理学的影响。仿生设计的赤陶瓦在两个地点进行了 6 个月的调理，然后相互移植，硬质珊瑚物种 Acropora eurystoma 和 Stylophora pistillata 又附着了 6 个月。12 个月后，从位点 A 移植到位点 B 的切片比切片 B 的原始切片表现出更高的无脊椎动物丰富度和多样性（通过细胞色素 c. 氧化酶亚基 I 元条形码）。来自健康珊瑚礁的关键细菌在站点 A 瓦片和移植到站点 B 的瓦片上更为普遍（通过 16S rRNA 基因测序）。最初来自站点 B 的珊瑚附着在移植的健康瓷砖（站点 A）上，通过总抗氧化能力和综合生物标志物反应来衡量，显示出更高的光化学能力、增加的内共生体和更少的生理压力。我们的研究结果表明，生物群落在珊瑚礁之间成功转移，突出了健康的珊瑚礁相关无脊椎动物和微生物对珊瑚生理学的潜在益处及其对珊瑚礁恢复策略的影响。