Screening and isolation on chitin agar plates: Various samples of chitinous waste (e.g., shrimp and crab shell waste), soil, seafood industrial waste, shrimp production pools and marine environment were aseptically collected from different locations in Iran. Screening of the chitinolytic microorganisms was performed by plating sample solutions from various samples on chitin agar plates. Mediwn for chitin agar plate preparation was prepared by mixing 5 g of colloidal chitin as a sole carbon source and 18 g of agar in M9 synthetic mediwn and the final pH was adjusted to 6.5±0.2. The chitin/agar plates were incubated at 30°C and examined for formation of clear zones arormd the colonies up to 10 days. The size of the clear zones and colony size were both measured and the colonies were transferred to chitin agar slants for fwther studies.