Aeromonas hydrophila manifested itself since its discovery in 1891 as a pathogen of cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals and man. Aeromonads cause intestinal and non-intestinal disease. The genus Aeromonas comprises: A. hydrophila, A. sorbria, A. caviae, A. veronii, A. schubertii, i.e. mesophilie species and as to psychrophilie immobile species. A. salmonicida and A. media. For warm-blooded animals and man mesophilie motile species are important as pathogens. A. veronii is an ornithine-decarboxylase positive species, A. schubertii is mannitol-negative, A. caviae is non-haemolytic and VP-negative. It is difficult to differentiate. A. hydrophila with aerogenic and anaerogenic strains from A. sobria. Several practical differential diagnostic tests were suggested by Janda et al. and Joseph et al.: hydrolysis of esculine, KCN, arabinose and salicin are usually positive in A. hydrophila, in A. sobria usually negative. Existing species of mesophilie aeromonads, however, do not correspond to some strains which are found. Therefore Arduino et al. divided their aeromonads into DNA-hybridization groups: for A. hydrophila there were 5, for A. caviae 2 and for A. sobria 1 hybridization group. Biochemisal characteristics corresponded to the hybridization groups. For isolation of aeromonads from faeces selective media with ampicillin must be used and possibly enrichment in alkaline peptone water. Evidence of pathogenity factors is similar as in E. coli,: detection of adhesins and enterotoxin or cytotoxin by means of tests commonly used in cholera and E. coli. The types of adhesins are differentiated by means of fucose- galactose- and mannose resistant haemagglutination.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)