INTRODUCTION

World aquaculture production of seafood has reached 62.7 million tonnes in 2011 up by 6.2% from 59 million tonnes in 2010 which made up 0.1% of total seafood production worldwide. !"#$% 2011&. 'n 2011% (2.()% of world aquaculture production are from mollus* and crustacean. +hellfish aquaculture is e,pected to e,pand due to the decrease in its natural resources and also its hi-h demand on shellfish . deri/ed products. 0isease is now a limitin- factor in shrimp culture subsector !"#$%1997&. 1ost of the bacterial diseases are commonly caused by 2ibrio spp. !3stes et al. 200 &. 2ibrio is a -ram ne-ati/e bacteria% ubiquitous in marine and estuarine ecosystem as well as aquaculture farm. 2ibrio is the most common patho-en that cause /ibriosis disease in aquaculture. 't has caused hi-h mortality in aquaculture worldwide. #mon- the /ibrio spp are Vibrio harveyi, Vibrio alginolyticus and Vibrio anguillarium. 4acterial diseases caused by 2ibrio spp has caused hi-h mortalities and ma5or economic loss to some countries. !3stes et al.% 200 &. 6his can be seen when one of 2ibrio species7 V. Harveyi has cause luminescent /ibriosis% which is an important disease that caused mass mortality in shrimp especially P.monodon !8a/illa . 9ito-o et al.% 1990&. #ccordin- to 1oriarty !199)&% production of shrimp in 9hilippines decreases about 55% between 1995 . 1997. 6hailand also e,perience the same when their production drop 0% between year 199 to 1997. 'nfectious bacterial diseases in aquaculture are of ma5or concern to the industry and are typically controlled by *illin- of the patho-en either by doin- treatment with antibiotics or chemotherapeutics7 or /accination. #lthou-h the pre/ention of disease by /accination is increasin-% disease control usin- antibiotics remains the method of choice in many areas. #ntimicrobial dru-s ha/e been one of the solution chosen for treatment. 0espite its ob/ious benefit in treatin- animals infected by bacterial diseases% antimicrobial dru-s has been prophylactic !pre/enti/e& or for -rowth enhancement !2an den 4o-aard and +tobberin-h% 2000&. :owe/er% the use of this dru-s ha/e rise up the emer-ence of #ntibiotic ;esistance 4acteria !+chwar< et al.% 2001& which ma*e this

bacteria immune to the antibiotic -i/en. 6here are certain antibiotic resistant bacteria that could pass on the resistance -enes to human patho-ens which could be a health ris*inproblem to human. !2an den 4o-aard = +tobberin-h 2000& ;esistance mechanism function in two ways7 by chromosome mutation and acquisition of plasmid. >hromosome mutation does not ha/e the ability to transfer the resistance -enes to others. :owe/er% -ene resistance could be pass on with plasmid. 9ast research has found the carryin- -enes for resistance to antimicrobial dru-s in 2ibrio spp. 3n/ironmentally friendly methods for controllin- microbial patho-enesis in aquaculture with probiotic bacteria ha/e -ained considerable research interest and are becomin- increasin-ly preferred as /iable% alternati/e mana-ement practices for disease pre/ention. 'n 1965% 8illy = +tillwell stated the ori-inal probiotic concept which is proto<oans producin- substances that stimulated other proto<oans. 6his concept is then impro/ised by "uller !19)9& when he stated probiotic is a li/e microbial feed supplement which beneficially affects the host animal by impro/in- its intestinal balance. 6he probiotic or-anisms must not be patho-enic to the host and% furthermore% it is considered ad/anta-eous if the probiont is indi-enous to the en/ironment in which it will be used. 't should also be accepted by the host throu-h in-estion and potential coloni<ation and replication within the host di-esti/e system. 6he probiont must also wor* in /itro as well as in /i/o and lastly% they must be free from /irulence resistance -enes or antibiotic resistance -enes. !2erschuere et al.% 2000&. 2erschuere et al stated in his re/iew article on the possible mode of action of the probiotic bacteria7 by the production of certain compound that could inhibit the patho-ens. 9robiotic can also -i/e competition with harmful microor-anism for nutrient and ener-y besides compete for adhesion sites. 6hey increase the immune resistance of the host and impro/e the water quality by their interaction with phytoplan*ton for a better en/ironment condition. 4acteria that ha/e been successfully pro/en to be used as probiotic belon- to the -enus 2ibrio !?riffith% 19957 ?arriques and #re/alo% 1995&% Bacillus spp. !1oriarty% 199)7

;en-pipat et al.% 199)& and Thalassobacter utilis !1aeda and 8iao% 1992&. 6hese bacteria strain were isolated from shrimp culture water !6anasomwan- et al.% 199)& and from the intestine of different penaeid species !;en-pipat et al.% 2000&. ?ome<.?il et al. !199)& stated that there are the a wide di/ersity of 2ibrio species in the hepatopancreas of healthy Penaeus vannamei. :owe/er there are no report so far statin- the use of this bacteria strains as probiotic. 9re/ious research at the 1ilford 8aboratory has shown that naturally.occurrinbacteria isolated from the di-esti/e -lands of adult oysters ! Crassostrea virginica & show promise as potential probiotic additi/es in oyster lar/iculture% based on bench.scale e,periments. 'n other studies% /arious species of Lactobacilli are isolated from $ysters !Crassostrea gigas&. 6his bacteria is pro/en in showin- anta-onism character towards V. Alginolyticus. !'n 8ee et al.% 2010&. 6he administration of probiotics appears to be a /ery promisin- research area for nutrition% biocontrol and disease pre/ention in aquaculture !4alca<ar et al., 2006&. :ence% it is interestin- to find out the potential probiotic bacteria that could be isolated from the shellfish species and try to de/elop new probiotic strains to impro/e sur/i/al and health of shellfish precisely oysters and shrimp.