Four strains isolated from cultured Manila clam, Ruditapes philippinarum, in the north-western coast of Spain were characterized phenotypically and genotypically. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that these bacteria were closely related to Aliivibrio wodanis, Aliivibrio salmonicida, Aliivibrio fischeri and Aliivibrio logei with sequence similarities between 98.1 and 96.0 %. Phylogenetic analysis based on the RNA polymerase alpha chain (rpoA), RecA protein (recA), the alpha-subunit of bacterial ATP synthase (atpA) and the uridine monophosphate (UMP) kinase (pyrH) genes and fluorescent amplified fragment length polymorphism experiments clearly showed that these novel isolates form a tight genomic group different from any currently known Aliivibrio species. On the basis of phylogenetic analysis and phenotypic data, the four strains represent a novel taxon, for which the name Aliivibrio finisterrensis sp. nov. is proposed. Several phenotypic features were revealed that discriminate A. finisterrensis from other Aliivibrio species. The type strain is CMJ 11.1(T) (=CECT 7228(T)=LMG 23869(T)).
