Representative colonies from each media were selected to obtain pure cultures and the isolates were initially characterized using the following tests, as described by Farto et al.(1999): Gram staining;cell morphology; oxidase; motility; fermentative or oxidative metabolism of glucose (O/F); growth on TCBS and nutrient agar (Cultimed; NA); susceptibility to the vibriostatic agent O/129 (150 lg; Oxoid; Madrid, Spain) on TSA-2 and Thornleys arginine: ADH, Moellersysine: LDC, ornithine: ODC.