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The microbial status of Clupea harengus, Scomber scombrus and Micromesistius poutassou fish species sold in Owo
market, Ondo state, Nigeria were determined at 0, 10 and 24 hr of exposure at open market temperature. Nine
bacteria and seven fungi species were isolated and identified. The eight bacteria species identified were Micrococuss
luteus, Salmonella typhimurium, Proteusmirabilis, Bacillus cereus, Leuconostoc lactis, Eschericha coli, Salmonella
sonnel, Enterobacter aerogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. Proteus mirabilis and Bacillus cereus were present in
all the three fish species. Clupea harengus had the highest bacteria count while Micromesistius poutassou had the
lowest with respect to Micrococuss luteus. The fungal species identified were Rhizopus oryzae, Rhizopus stolonifer,
Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigates, Candida krusei, Fusarium oxysporium and Schizosaccharomyces pombe.
Aspergillus flavus and Candida krusei were isolated from all the three species. Micromesistius poutassou had the
highest count of fungi while Scomber scombrus had the least. Bacteria load of the fish increases as the open market
exposure duration increased. The highest bacterial (Micromesistius potassou) load (4.0x105)was recorded at 24
hours of open market exposure in while the lowest (1.9x104) was recorded at 10 hours. Fungal load of 7.6x103 was
recorded in Clupea harengus after 24 hrof exposure while there was no fungi growth at 0 hr. Fish contamination
would be reduced with personal hygiene of fish handlers, availability of good storage and transportation facilities.
Keywords: microbial load, bacterial, fungal