Abstract
Five Aeromonas strains, isolated from both clinical and environmental sources and characterized by a polyphasic approach, including phylogenetic analysis derived from gyrB, rpoD, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, as well as DNA-DNA hybridization, extensive biochemical and antibiotic susceptibility tests, were recognized as members of an unknown, or undescribed, Aeromonas species. These "Aeromonas eucrenophila-like" strains were closely related to the species A. eucrenophila and Aeromonas encheleia, but they were negative for indole and acid from glycerol tests. Therefore, based on the results of the phylogenetic analyses and DNA-DNA pairing data of these strains, a novel species of the genus Aeromonas is described, for which the name Aeromonas tecta is proposed with isolate F518(T) (CECT7082(T), DSM17300(T), MDC91(T)) as the type strain.