Abstract

Microflora in the contents of the digestive tract of the two species of crayfish Astacus astacus L., and Pacifastacus leniusculus Dana was investigated using 5 different media. Bacterial densities in the contents of the digestive tract of crayfish vary greatly, while they seem to be influenced by feeding intensity and diet. Counts of the heterotrophic bacterial flora (aerobic and facultative anaerobic) among this proteolytic, amylolytic and cellulolytic numbers were done simultaneously. Proteolytic and amylolytic bacteria had densities indicating that they belong to the dominant heterotrophic flora, while cellulose degrading bacteria were not detected. The comparison of the results on the quantitative composition of microflora from the digestive tract and those in the habitat (water) revealed that the viable counts of common bacterial components in the water (at most 103 cell/mL^-1) were much lower than those in the crayfish intestinal contents (at most 106 cell/g^-1). Bacteria belonging to the genera Aeromonas, Pseudomonas and the family Enterobacteriaceae were predominant organisms in the contents of the digestive tract of crayfish.

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