DNA-DNA reassociation and phenotypic data indicate synonymy between Aeromonas enteropelogenes Schubert et al. 1990 and Aeromonas trota Carnahan et al. 1991.

Mainly on the basis of phylogenetic and genotypic evidence, it has been suggested previously that the species Aeromonas enteropelogenes Schubert et al. 1990 is identical to the species Aeromonas trota Carnahan et al. 1991. Probably because the description of A. enteropelogenes preceded the proposal of A. trota by only a few months, DNA-DNA hybridizations were never performed between representative strains of these two taxa. In the present study, new DNA-DNA hybridizations between the type strain of A. enteropelogenes, LMG 12646(T) (= DSM 6394(T)), and reference strains of A. trota, including its type strain LMG 12223(T)(= ATCC 49657(T)), showed a genomic relatedness of 81-99%. In addition, phenotypic characterization revealed that the two type strains exhibited identical API 20E and API 50CHE biochemical profiles and were both susceptible to ampicillin and carbenicillin. Collectively, our new DNA reassociation and phenotypic data confirm previous taxonomic data that indicate that the taxa A. enteropelogenes and A. trota are synonymous members of the same Aeromonas species. Although the species name A. enteropelogenes has nomenclatural priority, the authors would like to discourage the use of this name because the name A. trota has been cited much more frequently. The preferential use of A. trota in future publications may be the best option to avoid ambiguity in the description of ampicillinsusceptible aeromonads and to secure nomenclatural continuity in Aeromonas literature.