The data obtained in this study establish 

 blue crab gills as excellent surfaces for enu- 

 merating the blue crab's natural adherent 

 bacterial population. Bacterial quantitation, 

 which is difficult to achieve with other crab 

 surfaces, is easily accomplished with gills. Suc- 

 cession of bacterial species and the possible 

 influence of environmental contaminants in 

 the bacterial colonization of blue crab gills 

 are also conveniently accommodated by the 

 molting process. The freshly molted gill sur- 

 faces can be compared with gills that have 

 been exposed to the environment for extended 

 periods. Gill surfaces may provide a model 

 system for monitoring biological or chemical 

 pollutants based on observable changes in the 

 autochthonous bacterial populations of blue 

 crab gills. 



Acknowledgments 



The authors thank L. Ng for statistical analy- 

 sis of the data and V. Ward and D. Green for their 

 technical assistance. 



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John A. Babinchak 

 Daniel Goldmintz 

 Gary P. Richards 



Southeast Fisheries Center Charleston Laboratory 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA 

 P.O. Box 12607. Charleston, SC 29M2-0607 



890 



