Isolation of Aeromonas strains from the intestinal flora of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L. 1758)

The aim of this study was to isolate and identify motile Aeromonas strains from the intestinal micro-flora of healthy Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L. 1758) from freshwater areas and from the Black Sea, to determine the opportunistic pathogen of motile Aeromonad septicemia in summer months. An additional aim was to compare the API 20E multiple test system with conventional biochemical methods for strains of motile Aeromonas isolated from fish. Atlantic salmon (S. salar) were obtained from a private-sector farm on the Black Sea coast of Turkey in summer 1995 and by the end of the examination of 51 S. salar intestinal flora, six motile Aeromonas strains from freshwater and two motile Aeromonas strains from the Black Sea had been isolated. Five of the motile Aeromonas strains isolated from freshwater and one of the motile Aeromonas strains isolated from the Black Sea were identified as A. caviae. The rest were identified as A. sobria