Comparative Antimicrobial Activity of Mucus Extracts from Five Selected Marine Fishes Against Pathogenic Microorganisms

Fish epidermal mucus forms an important component of innate defence and contains biologically active substances that may contribute to protection against microorganisms. The present study comparatively evaluated mucus extracts from five marine fishes, *Scoliodon* sp., *Anguilliformes*, *Pampus* sp., *Sphyraena* sp. and *Ariidae*, against five bacterial and two fungal pathogens using the disc diffusion method. Five preparations—crude mucus, aqueous extract, 3% acetic-acid extract, 70% alcohol extract and absolute alcohol extract—were examined. The overall descriptive mean inhibition was highest for *Ariidae* (5.90 mm), followed by *Pampus* sp. (5.75 mm), *Anguilliformes* (5.22 mm), *Sphyraena* sp. (4.67 mm) and *Scoliodon* sp. (4.62 mm). Among extraction categories, 3% acetic acid showed the highest grand mean (6.22 mm), followed by aqueous (6.10 mm), crude (5.85 mm), 70% alcohol (4.37 mm) and absolute alcohol (3.61 mm). The findings demonstrate variation among fish species and extraction conditions and provide a useful comparative basis for further investigation of marine fish mucus as a source of antimicrobial constituents.