Journal of Environmental Biology

Comparative study of seasonal variation in bacterial flora concomitant with farm raised fingerlings of Cyprinus carpio

at tarai region of Uttarakhand

A. Bisht¹*, U.P. Singh¹ and N.N. Pandey²

¹College of Fisheries, G.B.Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar-263 145, India

²Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research, Bhimtal-263 136, India

*Corresponding Author E-mail: muskaan_bisht@yahoo.com

Publication Data

Paper received:

14 March 2012

Revised received:

12 October 2012

Accepted:

31 July 2013

Abstract

The bacterial infection is an important economic and limiting factor in intensive fish production. The present study focuses on investigation of the bacterial population associated with farmed common carp fingerlings, its environment and limnological quality of pond, during winter and summer season. It was found that the bacterial count in the pond sediment (6.40 cfu x 10⁴) was about 10 times higher in comparison of pond water (6.93 cfu x 10³). Further, the intestinal bacterial count was about 100 times higher (6.67 cfu x 10⁵) during winter and 1000 times higher (2.33 cfu x 10⁶) during summer season in comparison to the surfacial skin of fish during winter and summer (3.39 and 8.87 cfu x 10³), respectively. The isolated bacteria were both Gram negative and Gram positive, mostly aerobic rods. Furthermore, the temperature showed a significant relation with the bacterial counts of pond water. In the summer season, higher bacterial counts (8.72 cfu x 10³) were recorded as compared to winter (5.13 cfu x 10³). The dominant bacteria isolated from the sample of pond water, pond sediment and fish were identified as Aeromonas hydrophila, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas sp., Flavobacter sp., Bacillus sp., Micrococcus sp., Corynebacterium sp. Moreover, the bacterial density was dependent on C:N values, and the optimum range of C: N ratio was found between 16-23, for the carp culture ponds. Among the isolated bacterial flora, the presence of strains which were well known for their probiotic properties suggested an autochthonous source for use in aquaculture. Further, analysis of various physico-chemical parameters of pond water revealed that they were within the suitable range for the freshwater fish culture throughout farming phase.

 Key words

Bacterial flora, Cyprinus carpio fingerlings, C:N values, Seasonal variation

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