Vibrio renipiscarius sp. nov., isolated from cultured gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata)

Abstract

Two strains of Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, slightly halophilic bacteria, isolated from healthy gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) cultured in Spanish Mediterranean fish farms, were different from their closest relatives, Vibrio scophthalmi and V. ichthyoenteri, by phenotypic, phylogenetic and genomic standards. The strains were negative for decarboxylase tests and lacked extracellular hydrolytic activities, but were able to ferment d-mannitol, sucrose, cellobiose and d-gluconate, among other carbohydrates. The major cellular fatty acids were C16: 1 and C16: 0, in agreement with other species of the genus Vibrio. Their 16S rRNA gene sequences were 98.4 and 97.2 % similar to those of the type strains of V. scophthalmi and V. ichthyoenteri, and the similarities using other housekeeping genes (ftsZ, rpoD, recA, mreB and gyrB) and indices of genomic resemblance (average nucleotide identity and estimated DNA–DNA hybridization) between the isolates and those type strains were clearly below intraspecific levels, supporting the recognition of the strains as members of a separate novel species. Thus, we propose the name Vibrio renipiscarius sp. nov., with DCR 1-4-2T ( = CECT 8603T = KCTC 42287T) as the type strain.