Bacterial flora of the gills in tilapia (Tilapia nilotica L.)

The gills of the tilapia (Tilapia nilotica Linnaeus, 1758) kept in aquarium at 24 °C with a pH of 7.2 and dissolved oxygen 8.2 mg/L were bacteriologically scrutinized in the present work. For this study, 10 fish with an average body weight of 73.49 g and an average total length of 16.72 cm were used. Gill samples were streaked aseptically onto Tryptone Soy Agar, Anacker-Ordal Agar and Brain Heart Infusion Agar plates. Results of biochemical tests showed that the isolated bacteria were Enterobacter intermedius and Aeromonas hydrophila. Water samples obtained from the aquarium were also plated on Eosin Methylene Blue Agar where Escherichia coli was isolated.