Bacteria associated with <i>Periophthalmus papilio</i> and <i>Bostrychus africanus</i> from creeklets of the New Calabar River, Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the bacteria associated with two species of gobies (Periophthalmus papilio and Bostrychus africanus) from two  Creeklets; Iwofe and Bakana of the New Calabar River. Determination of bacterial loads, species characterization and composition in fish  parts (skin, intestine and gills) were done using standard microbiological procedures. Results revealed a total of eight bacterial species:  Bacillus subtilis, B. licheniformis, B. megaterium, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Micrococcus sp, Pseudomonas sp and Proteus  sp. The total viable counts of bacterial isolated from Periophthalmus papilio revealed 6.4 × 10⁷ and 9.2 × 10⁷ cfu/g from the skin, 4.8 × 10⁸  and 2.2 × 10⁸ cfu/g from the intestine and 5.2 × 10⁷ and 7.1 × 10⁷ cfu/g from the gills in Bakana and Iwofe Creeklets respectively. The  total heterotrophic bacterial counts of Bostrychus africanus showed 2.5 × 10⁷ and 8.5 × 10⁷ cfu/g from the skin, 2.8 × 10⁸ and 1.5 ×  10⁸ cfu/g from the intestine and 1.5 × 10⁷ and 6.0 × 10⁷ cfu/g from the gills from Bakana and Iwofe Creeklets respectively. Bacillus  subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli had the highest frequency of occurrence (20%) while Pseudomonas and Proteus sp.  occurred twice (5%). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the data showed that there was no significant difference at p ≥0.05 between the bacteria isolated from the two fish species collected from Iwofe and Bakana Creeklets. Some bacterial flora (Bacillus sp) isolated in the  present study composed of potential pathogenic organisms of public health interest. Thus, the cooking process applied to fishes before  consumption should employ temperatures that can eliminate these pathogens.