Monitoring of different vibrio species affecting marine fishes in Lake Qarun and Gulf of Suez: Phenotypic and molecular characterization

Vibriosis is a globally threatening bacterial disease affecting mariculture with high mortalities and severe economic losses. Isolation and Identification of different vibrio species were performed to a total number of one hundred moribund and freshly dead Solea aegyptiaca, Epinephelus marginatus and Mugil cephalus collected from Lake Qarun and Gulf of Suez. Phenotypic picture and molecular identification based on use of 16SrRNA gene sequence confirmed 44 strains as vibrio species. Further molecular identification of retrieved vibrio spp. using species specific primers for collagenase, ToxR and Vvh genes categorized 10 isolates belong to V. alginolyticus, 8 isolates belong to V. parahaemolyticus and 6 isolates belong to V. vulnificus. The total prevalence of vibriosis was 44% where the highest prevalence was recorded in Lake Qarun examined fishes.