ABSTRACT
The risk of fish pathogen transmission via eggs can be reduced by disinfection in ozonated seawater. The aim of this study was to determine the suitable conditions for ozone disinfection of the eggs of gilthead seabream Sparus aurata, sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax, red porgy Pagrus pagrus, and common dentex Dentex dentex. The eggs were disinfected with a concentration (C) of 0.5 mg of ozone/L of water at four different exposure times (T = 2, 4, 8, and 16 min). The hatching rate was determined in triplicate for each treatment. Bacterial colonies were counted on tryptic soy agar and thiosulfate-citrate-bile salts-sucrose agar. At the end of the experiment, bacterial load and hatching rate were assessed together to determine the optimal ozone treatment values, which were estimated in CT units (i.e., C [= 0.5 mg/L] x T [min]). Optimal values were CT 2-4 (T = 4-8 min; 18 degrees C) for gilthead seabream and red porgy, CT 2 (T = 4 min; 18 degrees C) for common dentex, and CT 4 (T = 8 min; 15 degrees C) for sea bass.
