Vibrios isolated from the cultured manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum): numerical taxonomy and antibacterial activities.

Aims: A numerical taxonomic study of halophilic Vibrio isolated from healthy and brown ring disease (BRD) affected manila clams (Ruditapes philippinarum), harvested from the Atlantic coast of south-western Spain, was performed. Methods and Results: Characterization of 123 presumptive Vibrio spp. was carried out using 94 phenotypic tests. Simple matching and Jaccard similarity coefficients were used for numerical analysis. Cluster analysis by the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averages yielded 15 phena defined at 0.81 similarity. Large phena corresponded to Vibrio tubiashii, V. splendidus biotype I and V. harveyi (phena 1, 5 and 9, respectively). The species V. splendidus bioty…