Bacteria of the Clyde Sea Area: A Quantitative Investigation

Abstract

The importance of bacterial action in the seas has long been recognised, but investigation in marine bacteriology lags behind that of corresponding terrestrial problems. Such general information about marine bacteria as is now available is derived mainly from bacteriological work of some decades ago. At that time the technique of the science was not fully developed, but at the present day it has become so specialised that it lies outside the province of the marine biologist, although he alone is able to appreciate the significance of bacteria in the general economy of the sea.

Quantitative Variations in the Bacterial Flora of Flatfish

“…However, the results of an investigation by Reay & Shewan (1949) into the numbers of bacteria on the skin of haddock a t various times of the year indicated that there is probably a seasonal variation in the quantitative load of bacteria on this fish. This conclusion is not entirely unexpected since seasonal variations in the numbers of bacteria in sea water have been observed by workers in different parts of the world (Lloyd, 1930;ZoBell & McEwan, 1935;Wood, 1953) and sea water is undoubtedly the source of many of the bacteria found on fish.Workers in the field of marine bacteriology have used a variety of media in investigations of the bacterial flora of sea water and of fish and this has made comparison of their results peculiarly difficult. Since it has been claimed that many bacteria of marine origin will not grow in the absence of sea water (ZoBell, 1946) the comparison of viable counts made in tap-water-containing and sea water-containing media is particularly difficult.…”

“…However, the results of an investigation by Reay & Shewan (1949) into the numbers of bacteria on the skin of haddock a t various times of the year indicated that there is probably a seasonal variation in the quantitative load of bacteria on this fish. This conclusion is not entirely unexpected since seasonal variations in the numbers of bacteria in sea water have been observed by workers in different parts of the world (Lloyd, 1930;ZoBell & McEwan, 1935;Wood, 1953) and sea water is undoubtedly the source of many of the bacteria found on fish.…”

“…The seasonal occurrence of large numbers of bacteria in the sea has been thought by some workers to be correlated with either maximum water temperatures (ZoBell & Feltham, 1934) or with plankton outbursts (Lloyd, 1930;ZoBell & McEwan, 1935). The temperature of a fish is dependent on that of the surrounding water so that, if temperature is the factor of greatest importance in determining the bacterial population of sea water, it is likely to be of similar importance in the case of fish.…”

Bacterial Adhesion: Seen Any Good Biofilms Lately?

“…ZoBell and others (45,62,89,98,100) recognized this tendency early in the twentieth century as a habitual characteristic of aquatic bacterial populations. In fact, these early observations provided tremendous insight into contemporary models of bacterial adhesion, given the unavailability of analytic and molecular tools at the time.…”

Marine Bacteriology

“…(13). The largest bacterial populations generally occur in water near shore where there is much terrig-, cnous (land-born) pollution (14,15, 16).In the open ocean the abundance of bacteria increases from the surface downward to depths of forty or fifty meters and then de creases (17,18) until, at depths exceeding two hundred meters, there may be fewer than one viable cell per mt. (14).…”