Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the presence of cellulose-degrading microorganisms which were living in the stomach of Perisesarma eumolpe crabs. P. eumolpe were collected in the gap of Can Gio mangrove caused by Durian typhoon in 2006. The study identified 520 microorganism samples from 30 stomach samples Cellulose degrading microbacteria were isolated on three types of nutrient media: meat extract – peptone, Gause and Czapek – Dok with CMC. These 520 microbial samples included of 496 aerobic bacteria, 7 actinomycetes and 0 mold samples. The number of cellulose degrading microorganisms was also accounted for 46% of total (240 samples). Among these, there were 24 bacteria strains and 5 actinomycetes strains which degradated cellulose based on the difference in the colony and the cell shape. The average microbial density per crab gut was approximately 0.66 ×105 to 6.6 ×105 cell/mL. In addition, the results showed that cellulose degrading microorganism groups have importantly contributed to the food sources for P. eumolpe during their living in the mangrove forest.