Taxonomy
It is classified as a Novirhabdovirus because it possesses a nonvirion gene (NV), which is the distinguishing feature of this genus. The NV gene is situated between the glycoprotein (G) and the polymerase (L) genes, and contains a single open reading frame (ORF), which is 335 nucleotides in length. It is called the "nonvirion" gene because no corresponding protein is present in the virion. Although the NV genes of novirhabdoviruses are similar in size, including approximately 110-122 codons, little sequence homology is evident.
Coding sequences of its glycoprotein (G) genes were found to be similar to the three other presently-classified novirhabdoviruses, VHSV, IHNV, and Hirame rhabdovirus (HIRRV), with between 36% and 47% amino acid identity.
Read more about this topic: Snakehead Rhabdovirus