Assessing the Concentrations and Significance of Vibriobacteria in Pens Used to Raise Marine Mammals
S. B. Greco; R. S. Fujioka; M. B. Cates; J. P. Schroeder
The source of vibrio bacteria is marine waters and several species of
Vibrio are know to cause epidemics and deaths in hatcheries used to raise fish, oysters,
clan-Ls, and eels. Moreover, human diseases transmitted via marine waters have been reported to
be caused by the infection of at least 9 different species of Vibrio. These results
indicate that manuals as well as invertebrates are susceptible to vibrio infections. In this
regard, marine mammals, especially those reared in sea pens, appear to be at high risk to vibrio
infections. However, the susceptibility of marine mammals to vibrio infections and diseases has
not been documented. The objective of this study was to evaluate the methods to determine the
concentrations and kinds of vibrio bacteria in the sea pens used to raise marine mammals as
compared to other marine water sites used for other purposes. The membrane filtration technique
using several selective media (TCBS, TCBS +7% NaCl, TSAT, MAAC, TTG, mVP, VV) were used to
recover and enumerate vibrio bacteria. Enrichment broths were also used to recover selected
species of Vibrio. Vibrio bacteria recovered from water samples and from marine
mammals were compared based on their species identification and antibiotic susceptibility
patterns.