Culturable microbiota associated with farmed Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus)

This study examined culturable microbiota associated with farming of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), an economically significant aquacultured fish species, in autumn and late spring. While sea water gave higher heterotroph plate counts than tuna skin and gill swabs, the opposite was true for Vibrio plate counts. Most bacteria identified from skin and gill swabs at both samplings were Gram-negative and comprised Pasteurella and Moraxella genera. At both samplings, Moraxella was the most abundant genus in internal organs, followed by Pasteurella and Brevundimonas, which were present in fewer organs. While none of the microbiota identified is known to be pathogenic to tuna, several are spoilage bacteria: Klebsiella, Moraxella, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Vibrio and Weissella. Total abundance of bacteria was greater on tuna skin than on gills. These results provide information about the bacterial community normally associated with healthy farmed Atlantic bluefin tuna, which will be helpful for assessing how changes in this community may affect farmed tuna health, risk of spoilage and safety of raw and processed tuna.