THE ROLE OF FISH AS CONVEYORS OF MICROORGANISMS IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS

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Abstract
Microbial analysis of 60 fish caught in three areas of Flathead Lake, Montana, substantiated the theory that fish carry a significant population of bacteria and fungi on their body surfaces and in their digestive tracts. Bacterial counts often were in the hundred thousands per square centimeter. Numbers and kinds of bacteria varied from fish to fish, showing no relation to location or kind of fish. Gram-negative, chromogenic rods were found most frequently. The ease with which these organisms were removed indicates that fish are important as passive carriers of bacteria in the aquatic environment.There was no evidence that the fungi isolated were commensal with the fish or parasitic on them. Since all the fungus species isolated except one have been found in water or bottom mud of Flathead Lake, it would appear that fish operate also as passive conveyors of fungi. The idea that fish play a major role in microbial distribution is given substance by the fact that 48 species of fungi have been isolated from surface samples and 8 additional species from the contents of stomach and oesophagus.