ABSTRACT
Morphometric properties of farmed fish and wild fish species taken from several hatcheries and the river Jhelum were investigated. The gills, buccal cavity, and skin of the two fish species were swabbed. The bacterial isolates’ cultural, morphological, and biochemical features were studied. According to the morphometric features, there is a substantial difference in weight between cultured fish (273.68 ± 6.79 g) and wild fish (404.00 ± 11.28 g). The bacterial count ranged from 2.0 × 103 to 2.90 × 104, from 1.64 × 104 to 2.99 × 104, and from 1.1 × 103 to 2.56 × 104 colony-forming units (cfu)/ml in the skin, buccal cavity, and gill of cultured fish, respectively; and from 1.6 × 103 to 2.78 × 104, from 1.5 × 103 to 2.95 × 104, and from 1.1 × 103 to 2.71 × 104 cfu/ml in the skin, buccal cavity, and gill of wild fish, respectively. Bacterial counts in the skin of cultured fish were considerably higher (P < 0.05) (2.0 × 103 to 2.90 × 104). The following organisms were recovered from the two fish samples: Pseudomonas spp, Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter spp, Bacillus spp, Shigella spp, Klebsiella spp, Proteus spp, Streptococcus spp, and Staphylococcus spp. The bacterial organisms recovered from the fish were pathogenic and potentially harmful to public health.
