S.G Nair - Assistant professor of Zoology, Sree Ayyappa College of Women, Tamil Nadu, India
A.P Lipton - Former principal scientist, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kerala, India
P De los Ríos–Escalante - Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources, Universidad Católica de Temuco, Temuco, ChileNucleus of Environmental Studies UC Temuco
E Ibáñez–Arancibia - Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources, Universidad Católica de Temuco,Temuco, ChileDoctoral Program in Sciences mention Applied Cellular and Molecular Biology, Universidad de La Frontera,Temuco, Chile

The fishes can be affected by different pathogens such as bacteria that affect mainly different internal organs with detriment in fish health that affect the production for ornamental or human food production. The ornamental fish Etroplus maculatus (Orange Indian cichlid) is widely distributed in India and Sri Lanka, and it is widely cultured for ornamental purposes. The present study aimed to study the presence of bacterial species Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter cloacae from the moribund fish E. maculatus. The results revealed the existence of both bacteria, specifically strains PSA۱ and EMS۱, respectively, in the internal organs of studied fishes. The reported strains were not resistant to antibiotics. The phylogenetic studies based denoted marked differences in strains of both bacterial species. The results would be similar to reports for others fish species with interest for fisheries and aquaculture.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter cloacae, Etroplus maculatus, fish diseases