Vibrio sinaloensis sp. nov., isolated from the spotted rose snapper, Lutjanus guttatus Steindachner, 1869.

Nine bacterial strains were studied by means of rep-PCR, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, DNA-DNA hybridization and physiological characterization. Typing analysis by means of rep-PCR showed that all nine strains were highly homogeneous, with similarities above 94 %. The strains were isolated from the same geographical area (Mazatlán, Sinaloa state, Mexico) and the same type of host (cultured rose snapper, Lutjanus guttatus), although from different individuals and organs. Comparison of the almost-complete 16S rRNA gene sequences of five strains showed that they belonged to the genus Vibrio and are closely related to the type strains of Vibrio brasiliensis and Vibrio hepatarius, with similarity values ranging from 97.9 to 98.1 % and from 97.4 to 97.8 %, respectively. The DNA-DNA hybridization value of strain CAIM 797(T) with the type strain of V. brasiliensis (CAIM 495(T)) was 47.5 %, with a reciprocal value of 44.7 %. The main phenotypic features of the strains were in agreement with the phylogenetic and genomic data. The results presented here support the description of a novel species, for which the name Vibrio sinaloensis sp. nov. is proposed, with strain CAIM 797(T) (=CECT 7298(T)) as the type strain.