Heterotrophic Bacterial Flora of the Seawater from the Nansei Shoto (Ryukyo Retto) Area

Abstract

The heterotrophic bacterial flora of seawater samples collected near the Nansei Shoto was surveyed during 1974 to 1977. The dominant genera in seawater were Vibrio, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Alcaligenes and Flavobacterium. The members of the family Vibrionaceae were most widely distributed in all of the sampling stations studied and were significantly in abundance in the seawater collected from the East China Sea. At one of the sampling stations, the average percentage of Vibrionaceae in the seawater representing seven water layers was 75per cent, reaching 100per cent at two of the water layers that were studied. Relationship between the incidence of Vibrio spp. in seawater samples collected in the East China Sea and the bacterial populations found in seawater collected off the Pacific Coast of Japan have been described.