Occurrence and distribution of vibrios in fishes and shellfishes in coastal waters of Hong Kong

The summer occurrence and distribution of vibrios in the fishes and shellfishes in the coastal waters of Hong Kong were investigated.A total of 69 strains of vibrios were isolated from all samples examined.The strains,along with 10 reference strains were classified with the technique of numerical taxonomy based on 54 characters and 62 of the 69 strains fell into 5 major phena,identified as V.flaraheamolyticus(30 strains),V.alginolyticus(23 strains),V.choloerae(3 strains),V.harveyi(2 strains) and V.fluvialis(4 strains).Among them.V.pnraheamolyticus and V.alginolyticus were the predominant species in the fishes,shellfishes and the coastal waters of Hong Kong and comprised 43.5% and 33.3% of the total Vibrio spp.isolates respectively.Meanwhile,3 strains of non-Ol V.cholerae were isolated from oyster and it was the first time to record V.cholerae non-Ol in seawater or from shellfishes in Hong Kong.These results highlighted the potential risks of food poisoning associated with raw or undercooked seafood.