Microbial flora of fresh and smoked fish from Nigerian fresh-water

Bacteria isolated from fresh Clarias lazera fish caught from the Ogurugu River in Nigeria were Micrococcus, Lactobacillus, Acinetobacter, Klebsiella, Aeromonas, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Flavobacterium, Moraxella and coryneforms. Micrococcus, Lactobacillus and Acinetobacter were isolated from fish smoked at 38–43°C but only Micrococcus came from fish smoked at 65–78°C. Smoked fish bought on the open market, in addition to Micrococcus, Lactobacillus and Acinetobacter, yielded Bacillus, Staphylococcus, Proteus and Escherichia. Bacillus cereus was also recorded on such fish but Vibro cholera, Salmonella, Shigella and Clostridium spp. were absent on both fresh and smoked fish.