Fungi associated with the crab Sesarma boulengeri Calman from Shatt Al-Arab river, Basrah -Iraq.

Abstract

The fungal species isolated from crab (Sesarma boulengeri Calman) and from its environment (mud) with their colony count, frequency, and occurrence were illustrated. The results of cultured samples revealed that out of 50 cultivated crabs, 32 species belong to 15 genera of fungi imperfecti, 2 ascomycetes species, and one yeast like fungi, besides of unidentified yeasts and black, brown, yellow, and white sterile mycelia were isolated on both SDA and PDA. The occurrence ranged between 6-100% on crab samples, while from mud samples only 12 species of fungi imperfecti with several isolates of black, brown, and white mycelia sterilia were isolated The colony forming units (CFU)/ crab reached 8097 while those from mud were 5452/gm. Aspergillus terreus and Fusarium sacchari showed the higher colony count (1428 and 1376 colonies/ crab, respectively) while from mud samples, these species showed 134 and 1000 colonies/gm respectively. Acremonium blochii was isolated from mud only with colony count of 334 colonies/gm. The mostly frequent fungal species on crab was A. terreus (100%) followed by F. sacchari (96%) and Curvularia senegalensis (94%) with frequency of 17.64%, 17.00% and 8.31%, respectively, while from mud, F. sacchari and Acremonium potroni were the most frequent species isolated (18.3%). The least occurred species were Acremonium sp., A. strictum, and Scytalidium sp. (6%) with the frequency of 0.09%, 0.09% and 0.19%, respectively.