Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science of categorizing life forms according to their characteristics. Eighteen different categories are used to define life forms from the broadest down to the most specific.

They are: Kingdom, Phylum, Subphylum, Superclass, Class, Subclass, Cohort, Superorder, Order, Suborder, Superfamily, Family, Subfamily, Tribe, Genus, Subgenus, Species and Subspecies.

Identifying the genus is usually specific enough to determine the role of the organisms found in a wastewater treatment system.