Intestinal Microflora of Coastal Puffer Fishes

Abstract

Three coastal species of puffer Fugu vermicularis vermicularis F. niphobles and Canthigaster rivulata, were examined for intestinal microflora. Six groups of genus Vibrio, along with genus Pseudomonas, were found to be predominantly detected in most specimens. It was noted that the viable counts of a Vibrio group, tentatively identified as V. alginolyticus, and the total viable counts showed a positive correlation (r=0.92).