To determine if S. iniae could be cultured
from the aquatic environment, 5 sites were sampled
when an outbreak of S. iniae was occurring at the sea
cage facility. Site 1 was located 4.5 km upstream in the
estuary in which the fish were cultured; Site 2 was the
farm; Site 3 was inside cages at the farm; Site 4 was
located within 200 m of the farm at the mouth of the
creek; and Site 5 was an oceanic site 4 km away from
the farm. At each site, 10 water samples of 10 ml were
collected in sterile plastic containers and transported at
ambient temperature back to the laboratory, where
they were processed within 12 h of the sample being
obtained using STAN/H media following the methods
of Sakata & Kawazu (1990).