ABSTRACT
Forty four strains of Vibrio, Pasteurella, Yersinia, Aeromonas, Escherichia, Klebsiella and Enterobacter were tested for 44 characters and the overall results scored by the procedure of numerical taxonomy. The strains were clustered by the weighted pair group method with the arithmatic averaging. The V. cholerae 01 and the non-01 V. cholerae being interlinked at a very high level (86% to 97.5%) within a single cluster were considered under the same species. V.cholerae having Classic, E1 Tor and Gindha (Pfeiffer 1896, as per priority) biotypes respectively. The biotypes of V.parahaemolyticus remained clearly delineated from Vibrio and Aeromonas, and, belonged to a new separate genus. The V. parahaemolyticus biotypes were located more adjacent to Yersinia and Pasteurella than the V. cholerae cluster. V.fluvialis 1 appears as a biotype of V.parahaemolyticus, and, not a new species.