Author(s): Wafha KA, Arathi Dharmaratnam, Raj Kumar, VS Basheer and T Raja Swaminathan

Abstract: Moribund goldfish, Carassius auratus, from a local ornamental fish farm with 50% cumulative mortality was sampled with the aim of isolating and detecting the causative agentin Ernakulam, Kerala. Five bacterial species viz., Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus cereus, Aeromonas hydrophila and Proteus penneri were isolated, and identified on the basis of biochemical tests and sequencing of 16S rDNA gene using universal bacterial primers. Challenge experiments with these isolates using healthy goldfish suggested that P. penneri induced show similar clinical and pathological states within 5 days of injection and confirmed that P. penneri was the causative agent. Kanamycin (30µg/disc), Ciprofloxacin (30µg/disc), Cefixime (5µg/disc) and Enrofloxacin (10µg/disc) are sensitive to the pathogen identified by the antibiotic sensitivity test. This study also assessed the toxic activities of extracellular products from P. penneri using in vitro assays on CCKF cell line. The affected fish recovered from the infection after treatment with the suggested antibiotics.

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