Vibrio parahaemolyticus can cause vibriosis in shrimp, and also can cause gastroenteritis in consumers. Study the sanitary and hygienic conditions of shrimps (Litopenaeus vannamei) and water from ponds of shrimp farms of the coast of Piauí were evaluated for V. parahaemolyticus. 148 samples of water and 72 samples of shrimp were collected in three different farming stages (postlarvae, juvenile and growout) from four shrimp farms. 25 g of each sample was transferred to a flask containing 225mL of peptone water with 3% of salt for the preparation of the 10-1 dilution, from which the 10-2 and 10-3 dilutions were prepared. For the presumptive test aliquotes of 1,0mL of these dilutions were streaked in three Horie arabinose ethyl violet broth tubes (37ºC/24 hours). They were restreaked TCBS agar (37ºC/24 hours). The typical colonies were streaked motility salt agar, nutrient salt agar, salt peptone broth and TSI salt agar (37ºC/24 hours) and then biochemical tests were performed: halofilic (0; 3; 6; 8 and 10%), growth at 42ºC, Kanagawa test, Hugh-Leifson test, lysine and arginine decarboxylation and fermentation of mannitol and sucrose. The presence of V. parahaemolyticus was statistically similar in samples of water and of postlarvae and grow out stages in all shrimp farms both in estuary and pond. In samples of shrimp there was no statistical difference among shrimp farms and farming stages. The water from the productive system and the shrimp raised in the cost of Piauí has satisfactory hygienic and sanitary conditions to Vibrioparahaemolyticus count.
Litopenaeus vannamei; shrimp; water quality