Shell disease in the Freshwater crab, Barytelphusa cunicularis

Abstract

The current study deals with the isolation and identification of bacterial and fungal pathogens, from lesioned carapace and limb of the freshwater crab Barytelphusa cunicularis, inhabiting the paddy fields of Mananthavady, Wayanad, Kerala. The bacterial flora was isolated by pour plate method and phenotypic identification was made based on morphological features and biochemical tests. The fungal pathogen was isolated from Sabouraud dextrose agar medium and morphologically identified using Lactophenol cotton blue stain. From the infested carapace, bacteria belonging to nine genera - Aeromonas, Alcaligenes, Bacillus, Chromobacterium, Enterobacter, Escherichia, Klebsiella, Micrococcus and Pseudomonas and one fungal pathogen Aspergillus sp. were identified. Infested limb showed the presence of Pseudomonas and Escherichia coli. The present study on the isolation and identification of microbes from infested carapace and limb will aid in understanding the pathogen profile and its prevalence in wild populations, so as to determine its suitability for human consumption.