Bacterial flora in the digestive tract of native and alien species of crayfish in Lithuania
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Abstract
Quantitative and qualitative investigations were performed on the bacterial populations in the digestive tract of 3 species of crayfish: Astacus astacus (L.), Astacus leptodactylus Esch. and Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana). We have established that bacteria are found in great abundance in the contents of the digestive tract of the tested crayfish. The aerobic bacteria including facultative anaerobes exhibited outstanding seasonal variations. Characteristics of feeding of the tested species of crayfish are correlated with the viable counts of bacteria in the contents of the digestive tract. The results obtained also indicate that the viable counts of bacteria of different physiological groups were higher in the digestive tract of A. leptodactylus and P. leniusculus than in A. astacus. It is evident that moulting affects the abundance rather than qualitative composition of bacteria in the digestive tract of crayfish. Aeromonas, Pseudomonas and Enterobacteriaceae were widely distributed in the intestinal tract of the freshwater crayfish examined.
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Mickėnienė L. (1999). Bacterial flora in the digestive tract of native and alien species of crayfish in Lithuania. Freshwater Crayfish 12(1):279-287. doi:
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