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Science of Water : Concepts and Applications

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124 The <strong>Science</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Water</strong>: <strong>Concepts</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Applications</strong><br />

Class<br />

Order<br />

Family<br />

Genus<br />

Species<br />

Using this system, a fruit fl y might be classifi ed as:<br />

Animalia<br />

Arthropoda<br />

Insecta<br />

Diptera<br />

Drosophilidae<br />

Drosophila<br />

melanogaster<br />

This means that this organism is the species melanogaster in the genus Drosophila in the Family<br />

Drosophilidae in the Order Diptera in the Class Insecta in the Phylum Arthropoda in the Kingdom<br />

Animalia.<br />

To further illustrate how the hierarchical system is exemplifi ed by the classifi cation system, the<br />

st<strong>and</strong>ard classifi cation <strong>of</strong> the mayfl y (a burrowing macroinvertebrate) is provided below.<br />

MAYFLY<br />

Kingdom Animalia<br />

Phylum Arthropoda<br />

Class Insecta<br />

Order Ephermeroptera<br />

Family Ephemeridae<br />

Genus Hexagenia<br />

Species limbata<br />

Utilizing this hierarchy <strong>and</strong> Linnaeus’s binomial system <strong>of</strong> nomenclature, the scientifi c<br />

name <strong>of</strong> any organism (as stated previously) includes both the generic <strong>and</strong> specifi c names. In the<br />

above instances, to uniquely name the species it is necessary to supply the genus <strong>and</strong> the species,<br />

Drosophila melanogaster (i.e., the fruit fl y) <strong>and</strong> Hexagenia limbata (mayfl y). As shown, the fi rst<br />

letter <strong>of</strong> the generic name is usually capitalized; hence, for example, E. coli indicates that coli is the<br />

species <strong>and</strong> Escherichia (abbreviated to E.) is the genus. The largest, most inclusive category—the<br />

kingdom—is plant. The names are always in Latin, so they are usually printed in italics or underlined.<br />

Some organisms also have English common names. Microbe names <strong>of</strong> particular interest in<br />

water/wastewater treatment include:<br />

•<br />

•<br />

•<br />

•<br />

•<br />

•<br />

•<br />

•<br />

•<br />

E. coli—a coliform bacterium<br />

Salmonella typhi—the typhoid bacillus<br />

Giardia lamblia—a protozoan<br />

Shigella spp.<br />

Vibrio cholerae<br />

Campylobacter<br />

Leptospira spp.<br />

Entamoeba histolytica<br />

Crytosporidia

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