Abstract
Brackish water fishes usually harbour human pathogenic bacteria particularly the enterics and coliform groups in their mucosal surfaces. Thus, this study was undertaken to investigate the prevalence of skin and gills microbiota of Tilapia guineensis as to understand their microbial assemblages and as well provide useful insights into the broad dynamics of the fish host-microbial relationship and health status. Thirty samples of Tilapia guineensis were collected from Buguma brackish water environment, River State, Nigeria. The skin and the gills of the tilapia were analyzed microbiologically. Specimen were collected by swabbing aseptically over the skin and gills segment of the fish and then processed for total bacterial count, followed by isolation and identification of isolated bacteria. Microbial load analysis revealed that the total viable count of bacteria ranged from 2.4 to 7.6 x 105 cfu/ml for skin and 2.1 to 5.7 x 106 cfu/ml for gills, and it was observed to fall within the recommended microbiological standard safety limit. A total of thirty-seven (37) bacteria, belonging to fifteen different genera in the family of Vibrionaceae, enterobacteriaceae and Morganellaceae were isolated from the fish. The prevalent rate of the bacterial shows that Proteus vulgaris recorded the highest frequency of occurrence of 16.22%, followed by Vibrio parahaemolyticus with 10.81% occurrence and Provindencia rettgeri, Serratia mercescens and Salmonella sp. trailed them with 8.11%. Kluyyera ascorbate, Citrobacter amalonaticus, Proteus mirabilis, Enterobacter aerogenes, plesiomonas shigelloides and Pseudomonas sp. have the least frequency of occurrence with 2.7% respectively for each. Though the bacterial count of Tilapia guineensis harvested from the water and fish sample did not exceed the standard recommended safety limit. There were several potential pathogenic and spoilage bacteria isolated as part of the fish flora. The presence of these bacteria could poses or constitute a public health risk.
Highlights
Tilapia Guineensis is a widespread fish species with great aquaculture potentials in all the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world [1]
Thirty (30) fish samples of Tilapia guineensis were collected from Buguma brackish water environment, River State, Nigeria, and transported in an oxygenated bag to Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research, Lagos, where the skin and the gills of the fish sample were aseptically swabbed with a sterile swab stick for bacteriological studies
High bacteria load observed from this study is in agreement with the study of [11] who reported the presence of high bacterial load in tilapia gills, but in contrast with the work of Chessbrought [12], who reported that bacteria associated with the gills are actively maintained at low level to enable the fish keep the bacterial number low, and afford the fish some degree of protection against bacterial invasion by the gills micro flora
Summary
Tilapia Guineensis is a widespread fish species with great aquaculture potentials in all the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world [1]. There is an increasing interest in the Tilapia guineensis production due to their several nutritional advantage of being firm in texture, possession of low cholesterol and relatively easy to cook [4] Regardless of these numerous advantages, Tilapia guineensis and other fish species in general are susceptible to contamination with pathogenic bacterial organisms because of their flesh texture, their living habits as well as their habitant which is loaded with pathogenic bacteria. Bacteria are widely distributed in brackish water environment and they have been implicated as opportunistic pathogens causing gastroenteritis and other severe health conditions to man. Their occurrence has been reported in some African, Asian, European countries and virtually across the globe. This study was embarked on to investigate the prevalence of bacterial microbiota associated with the skin and gills of Tilapia guineensis caught from Buguma brackish water environment
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