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Studies on the cloacal flora of three species of free‐living British reptile
Author(s) -
Cooper J. E.,
Needham J. R.,
Lawrence K.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1985.tb04948.x
Subject(s) - biology , yersinia pseudotuberculosis , zoology , yersinia , natrix , microbiology and biotechnology , salmonella , flora (microbiology) , bacteria , ecology , virulence , biochemistry , genetics , gene
Cloacal swabs from seven free‐living Grass snakes ( Nutrix natrix ), six adders ( Vipera berus ) and 17 slow‐worms ( Anguis fragilis ) were cultured for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. The number of species isolated was 18, 16 and 29, respectively, and the most prevalent organisms were entero‐cocci (Grass snakes) and Escherichia coli (adders and slow‐worms). There were surprisingly few anaerobes. Bacteria with zoonotic potential included Arizona (Salmonella) arizonae from four slow‐worms and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis from an adder.