Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T10:52:13.516Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Bacterial Flora of the Slime and Intestinal Contents of the Haddock (Gadus aeglefinus)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Mary Macfarlane Stewart
Mary Macfarlane Stewart
Affiliation:
Tarry Research Station, Aberdeen.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The surface of most fish is covered with a coating of slime which increases in amount after death when the fish is held at room temperature or stowed in ice. The slime has been examined by Dr. Ingvaldsen of the Prince Rupert Station who has found that 3 c.c. of this material contain 33.348 mg. of nitrogen of which 11.9 per cent is amino-nitrogen. It is poor in carbohydrates, but along with the mineral salts contained in seawater it appears to provide an excellent medium for bacterial growth. In the fresh fish, the slime is clear, of mucous consistency, and shows comparatively few organisms in stained films, but in fish which are not quite fresh the slime appears to be increased in amount, is opaque and increased in consistency. With increasing age the slime becomes yellowish and evil-smelling, and stained films show an enormous increase of bacteria. In the early stages of the work attempts were made to correlate the number of organisms in the slime with the age of the fish by making bacterial counts, but owing to the irregular distribution of the slime over the surface of the fish and the difficulty of making homogeneous suspensions the results were not very satisfactory, although gross changes-were readily detected.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , May 1932 , pp. 35 - 50
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1932

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.Bergey, D. H. 1926. Manual of Determinative Bacteriology. 2nd Edition. William and Wilkins, Baltimore.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Harrison, F. C. 1929. The Discoloration of Halibut. Canadian Jour. of Res., I, 214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Fellers, C. R. 1926. Bacteriological Investigations on Raw Salmon Spoilage. Univ. of Washington, Pub. in Fisheries, I, 157.Google Scholar
4.Gee, A. H. 1927. Bacteria Concerned in the Spoilage of Haddock: Preliminary Report. Contrib. Canadian Biol. and Fish., III, 349.Google Scholar
Gee, A. H. 1930. Bacteria Concerned in the Spoilage of Haddock. III. Further Observations on the Flora of Live Fish, V, 433.Google Scholar
5.Newton, D. E. 1924. Marine Spore Forming Bacteria. Contrib. Canadian Biol. New Series, I, 379.Google Scholar
6.Reed, G. B., and Spence, C. M. 1929. The Intestinal and Slime Flora of the Haddock: Preliminary Report. Canadian Biol. and Fish., IV, 257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Harrison, F. C., Perry, H. M., and Smith, P. W. P. 1926. The Bacteriology of Certain Sea Fish. Report 19, Canadian Nat. Res. Council.Google Scholar
8.Obst, M. M. 1919. A Bacteriological Study of Sardines. Jour. Inf. Dis., XXIV, 158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Hunter, A. C. 1920. Bacterial Decomposition of Salmon. Jour·Bact., V, 353.Google Scholar
Hunter, A. C. 1920. Bacterial Groups in Decomposing Salmon, 543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Sanborn, J. R. 1930. Certain Relationships of Marine Bacteria to the Decomposition of Fish. Jour. Bact., XIX, 375.Google Scholar