Table 1. Number of samples, mean read counts (± SD), and amplicon sequence variant (ASV) richness (± SD) by species and season.

Values are shown prior to rarefaction for the sea urchins Diadema antillarum and Echinometra lucunter sampled in summer (Qiita ID 12668) and winter (Qiita ID 15707). Mean values and standard deviations are reported across samples within each group.

	Total count	Average ± SD of reads	Average ± SD of ASVs
Summer (Qiita ID-15707)(ENA: PRJEB90128/ERP173143)	14	65,489.21 ± 28,713.90	527.57 ± 280.50
Black	7	71,235.14 ± 29,626.17	508.57 ± 283.16
Red	7	59,743.29 ± 28,838.23	546.57 ± 299.09
Winter (Qiita ID-12668)(ENA: PRJEB40117/ ERP123720)	36	25,982.72 ± 15,888.67	1,076.53 ± 515.37
Black	18	21,017.78 ± 14,104.40	935.11 ± 484.19
Red	18	30,947.67 ± 16,389.46	1,217.94 ± 519.66
Grand Total	50	37,044.54 ± 26,835.32	922.82± 522.10