Zeitschrift für Meeresbiologie und Ozeanographie

Short-Term Variation in the Abundance of Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus in a Tidal Estuary

Matt Rhodes, Hemalatha Bhaskaran, John Jacobs

Short-Term Variation in the Abundance of Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus in a Tidal Estuary

We examined the influence of tide stage and depth on the abundance of Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus in the Chesapeake Bay. Samples were collected every 3 hours following predicted tides at a fixed location over 3 separate days and Vibrio concentrations analyzed by qPCR. Multi-way Analysis of Variance suggest that sampling day explains the vast majority of the variance in abundance for both species (p<0.0001) with limited influence of tide and depth. The physio-chemical parameters that define a sampling day were further explored with environmental gradient analysis.