In order to determine the influence of six lactic acid bacterial (LAB) strains, lactic acid and major extracellular products (ECPs) of LAB on the bacterial load of Artemia culture, two experiments were carried out. In both experiments, the dominant bacterial species were identified as Vibrio alginolyticus. The treatment with Lactobacillus brevis (1 108 bacteria/ml) and lactic acid (0.1 g/l) reduced the load of this bacterium in the Artemia culture water. Biochemical and morphological characteristics of the V. alginolyticus strains isolated from Artemia culture were determined. For comparative purposes, another V. alginolyticus strain isolated from diseased turbot larvae was also included. The in vitro antibacterial activity of extracellular products (ECPs) from LAB, as well as lactic acid (0.1 and 0.05 g/l), was assessed against both V. alginolyticus strains. ECPs from LAB were able to inhibit the growth of V. alginolyticus, especially those from L. brevis. In the case of lactic acid treatments, no significant inhibition of V. alginolyticus growth was observed

This work was partially supported by the projects 1FD97-0044-C03-03 and 1FD97-0044-C03-02 from FEDER and a grant from Caixa Galicia (Spain)

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