<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//NLM//DTD JATS (Z39.96) Journal Publishing DTD v1.2d1 20170631//EN" "JATS-journalpublishing1.dtd"> <ArticleSet> <Article> <Journal> <PublisherName>emergentresearch</PublisherName> <JournalTitle>Emergent Life Sciences Research</JournalTitle> <PISSN>2395-6658 (</PISSN> <EISSN>) 2395-664X (Print)</EISSN> <Volume-Issue/> <PartNumber/> <IssueTopic>Multidisciplinary</IssueTopic> <IssueLanguage>English</IssueLanguage> <Season/> <SpecialIssue>N</SpecialIssue> <SupplementaryIssue>N</SupplementaryIssue> <IssueOA>Y</IssueOA> <PubDate> <Year>-0001</Year> <Month>11</Month> <Day>30</Day> </PubDate> <ArticleType>Research Article</ArticleType> <ArticleTitle>Microbiological quality and Biochemical Composition of Water Snail (Pachymelania byronensis) of Lower Niger River Basin</ArticleTitle> <SubTitle/> <ArticleLanguage>English</ArticleLanguage> <ArticleOA>Y</ArticleOA> <FirstPage>0</FirstPage> <LastPage>0</LastPage> <AuthorList> <Author> <FirstName>Ikpesu</FirstName> <LastName>Thomas</LastName> <AuthorLanguage>English</AuthorLanguage> <Affiliation/> <CorrespondingAuthor>N</CorrespondingAuthor> <ORCID/> </Author> </AuthorList> <DOI/> <Abstract>Pachymelania byronensis is a mollusk that is very abundance in the Niger Delta ecological zone, Nigeria especially the lower region that has the brackish water. The meat of this gastropod serves as good source of protein to the inhabitants, its health status and nutritional composition was investigated to ascertain its suitability for human consumption. The snail samples were randomly hand-picked from their natural environment from August, 2017 to January, 2018 depicting wet and dry seasons. A total of 144 P. byronensis (24 per station) were sampled for this investigation. The total heterotrophic bacteria counts was determined using standard pour plates method. Coliform counts was determined using MacConkey agar, Salmonella/Shigella agar for total Salmonella /Shigella counts and Thiosulphate citrate bile salt sucrose agar for total vibrio counts. The isolates were identified with reference to Bergey’s Manual of Determinative Bacteriology. The foot muscle and viscera were used for the proximate estimation of nutritional composition. The bacteriological load in the P. byronensis revealed that there were variations in the occurrence of the different groups. Salmonella /Shigella counts had the highest 1.96 ± 3.45 X 103 (cfu/100mL) followed by Total vibrio counts 1.66 ± 3.13 X 103 (cfu/100mL). Total heterotrophic bacteria counts 1.63± 4.97 X 103 (cfu/m) and Coliform counts 1.30 ± 3.70 X 103 (cfu/100mL) the least. The nutritional status showed that the snail is a valuable source of sea food that will meet the balance nutritional needs of man. The findings revealed that human activities may have influenced microbial load in the Rivers, and the nutritional status of snail revealed that it could be used as food for humans, which would go a long way in enhancing nutritional balance of diet.</Abstract> <AbstractLanguage>English</AbstractLanguage> <Keywords>Microbiological load,Biochemical Characteristics,Pachymelania byronensis,Total heterotrophic bacteria,Salmonella/Shigella,Rivers</Keywords> <URLs> <Abstract>https://www.emergentresearch.org/ubijournal-v1copy/journals/abstract.php?article_id=5788&title=Microbiological quality and Biochemical Composition of Water Snail (Pachymelania byronensis) of Lower Niger River Basin</Abstract> </URLs> <References> <ReferencesarticleTitle>References</ReferencesarticleTitle> <ReferencesfirstPage>16</ReferencesfirstPage> <ReferenceslastPage>19</ReferenceslastPage> <References/> </References> </Journal> </Article> </ArticleSet>