Aim: The present study aims to evaluate the morphometric parameters and level of Salmonella and Escherichia coli contamination of Tilapia guineensis and Sarotherodon melanotheron in the waterway of Southern Benin.

Materials and Methods: 183 T. guineensis and 195 S. melanotheron were collected from June to July 2014 in four waterways: Lake Aheme, Nokoue Lake, coastal lagoon, and lagoon of Porto-Novo. Weight, total length, and standard length of these fish were evaluated. E. coli and Salmonella spp. were sought in fresh fish.

Results: The results obtained in this study indicate that S. melanotheron presented high-performance of length and weight more than T. guineensis in Aheme Lake and lagoon of Porto-Novo. However, in Nokoue Lake and coastal lagoon, no difference was observed between the two species of fish. As for bacteriological analysis, the population of T. guineensis was more contaminated with E. coli with respective values of 60% and 59.52% in the Nokoue Lake and coastal lagoon than in the two other streams. Regarding the population of S. melanotheron, she was most contaminated in the coastal lagoon with a percentage of 66.66% in Aheme Lake, Nokoue Lake, and the lagoon of Porto-Novo. However, no Salmonella germ was detected in fish analyzed in this study.

Conclusion: It appears that the morphometric parameters and weight of T. guineensis are lower than those of S. melanotheron. The evaluation of the microbiological quality revealed that T. guineensis is more contaminated with E. coli that S. melanotheron.

Keywords: Benin, Escherichia coli, morphometric parameters, Salmonella spp., Sarotherodon melanotheron, Tilapia guineensis.

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