Name: Edwardsiella tarda Ewing and McWhorter 1965 (Approved Lists 1980)

Category: Species

Proposed as: sp. nov.

Etymology: tar’da. L. fem. adj. tarda, slow (intended meaning was “inactive,” referring to the fermentation on only a few carbohydrates compared to many other Enterobacteriaceae)

Gender: feminine

Type strain: ATCC 15947; CCUG 1638; CIP 78.61; DSM 13696; DSM 30052; JCM 1656; LMG 2793; NCCB 73021; NCTC 10396

See detailed strain information at

Conduct genome-based taxonomy at

16S rRNA gene: AB050827 Analyse FASTA

Effective publication: Ewing WH, McWhorter AC, Escobar MR, Lubin AH. Edwardsiella, a new genus of Enterobacteriaceae based on a new species, E. tarda. International Bulletin of Bacteriological Nomenclature and Taxonomy 1965; 15:33-38.

IJSEM list: Skerman VBD, McGowan V, Sneath PHA. Approved lists of bacterial names. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1980; 30:225-420.

Nomenclatural status: validly published under the ICNP

Taxonomic status: correct name

Risk group: 2

• Synonyms:

  • Name	Kind
    "Paracolobactrum anguillimortiferum" Hoshina 1962	homotypic synonym, not validly published, basonym of name in Approved Lists
    Edwardsiella anguillimortifera (Hoshina 1962) Sakazaki and Tamura 1975 (Approved Lists 1980)	homotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP, illegitimate name

• Notes:
  • 🥇 Nomenclatural type of the genus Edwardsiella Ewing and McWhorter 1965 (Approved Lists 1980). Publication: Ewing WH, McWhorter AC, Escobar MR, Lubin AH. Edwardsiella, a new genus of Enterobacteriaceae based on a new species, E. tarda. International Bulletin of Bacteriological Nomenclature and Taxonomy 1965; 15:33-38.
  • ✏ The authority of the taxon name (Ewing and McWhorter) deliberately differs from the authors of the publication (Ewing et al.).
  • 😷 The risk group for Belgium has been imported on 2024-02-05. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "human and animal pathogen - human risk group: 2 - animal risk group: 3 - biological class of risk animal: 3". — The risk group for Canada has been imported on 2024-02-27. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "Animal classification RG: 2 - Security sensitive biological agent: No - Terrestrial animal pathogen under Canadian Food Inspection Agency authority: No - Containment level: Containment Level 2". — The risk group for Swiss Confederation has been imported on 2024-02-01. The full classification is: risk group = 2. — The risk group for Germany has been imported on 2023-10-29. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "ht". — The risk group for Sweden has been imported on 2024-02-05. The full classification is: risk group = 2. — The risk group for United Kingdom has been imported on 2024-01-31. The full classification is: risk group = 2. — The risk group for United States has been imported on 2024-02-09. The full classification is: risk group = 2.
  • 🎓 Name mentioned 1180 times in PubMed until 2024-03-28.
  • 🧍 According to Bartlett et al. (2022), this species is an established human pathogen. Publication: Bartlett A, Padfield D, Lear L, Bendall R, Vos M. A comprehensive list of bacterial pathogens infecting humans. Microbiology 2022; 168:0.
  • 🧍 Consequently, the two names remain homotypic synonyms [3]. Publication: De Vos P, Trüper HG, Tindall BJ. Judicial Commission of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes Xth International (IUMS) Congress of Bacteriology and Applied Microbiology. Minutes of the meetings, 28, 29 and 31 July and 1 August 2002, Paris, France. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 2005; 55:525-532.
  • 🧍 Edwardsiella tarda Ewing and McWhorter 1965 (Approved Lists 1980) and Edwardsiella anguillimortifera (Hoshina 1962) Sakazaki and Tamura 1975 (Approved Lists 1980) have the same type strain and Edwardsiella anguillimortifera (Hoshina 1962) Sakazaki and Tamura 1975 (Approved Lists 1980) is the earlier synonym. However, Farmer et al. 1976 [1] have submitted a Request for an Opinion to conserve the specific epithet tarda over the specific epithet anguillimortifera. Publication: Farmer Iii JJ, Brenner DJ, Clark WA. Proposal to conserve the specific epithet tarda over the specific epithet anguillimortiferum in the name of the organism presently know as Edwardsiella tarda: Request for an Opinion. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1976; 26:293-294.
  • 🧍 No action was taken on the request, because the request has been withdrawn [2]. Publication: Holt JG. INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE ON SYSTEMATIC BACTERIOLOGY, JUDICIAL COMMISSION: Minutes of the meeting, 3 September 1978, Munich, West Germany. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1979; 29:267-269.

Parent taxon: Edwardsiella Ewing and McWhorter 1965 (Approved Lists 1980)

Assigned by: Ewing WH, McWhorter AC, Escobar MR, Lubin AH. Edwardsiella, a new genus of Enterobacteriaceae based on a new species, E. tarda. International Bulletin of Bacteriological Nomenclature and Taxonomy 1965; 15:33-38.

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Record number: 775882