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Glaciers are receding at an unprecedented rate with expected losses of up to half their masses by 2100. Such changes will profoundly effect the physicochemical characteristics of glacier-fed stream (GFS) water, such as the composition of organic matter, turbidity, conductivity, and patterns in discharge. Hence, direct effects are anticipated for the microbial communities and assemblages inhabiting these environments. High-elevation tropical glaciers are already responding to these enhanced changes (eg temperature) and thus are a proxy to study the ecology of GFSs in the future. Here, we sampled and studied the Mt Stanley glacier in Africa's' Mountains of the Moon'(Rwenzori National Park, Uganda). We showed that the benthic microbiome from this GFS is distinct at several levels from other GFSs worldwide. Specifically, several novel taxa were present, and usually, common groups such as Chrysophytes and …