Antimicrobial Activity of Skin Mucus of some Cultivable Fish Species

The present study antimicrobial activity of skin mucus of fish some cultivable fish species namely Catla catla, Labeo rohita, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and Ctenopharyngodon idella against pathogenic bacterial strains viz. Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi and fungal species viz Candida albicans, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger. Skin mucus of fish species were collected by skin scarping method. Antimicrobial activity of mucus extract was carried out by disk diffusion method and measured in terms of zone of inhibition in mm, where as antibiotic Ampicillin and griseofulvin were taken as standard. In the present study, skin of mucus of all the fish species showed antimicrobial activity against the tested microbial pathogens. Moreover, the mucus of fish possesses antimicrobial agents which could be used to formulate new drugs for the therapy of infectious diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms.