Halobacterium salinarum

Halobacterium is an extremely halophilic marine gram-negative obligate aerobic archaeon. Despite its name, this microorganisms is not a bacteria, but rather a member of the Domain Archaea. It is found in salted fish, hides, hypersaline lakes, and salterns. Salterns are enclosed basins filled with seawater that are left to evaporate, yielding solar sea salt. As these salterns reach the minumum salinity limits for extreme halophiles, their waters become purple or reddish color due to the algal bloom of halophilic Archaea. H. salinarum has also been found in high-salt food such as salted pork, marine fish, and sausages.

To survive in extremely salty environments, this archaeon -- as with other halophilic Archaean species -- utilizes compatible solutes (in particular potassium chloride) that acts as a sort of antifreeze/coolant to keep the cell metabolism functioning.

H. salinarum is an obligate aerobe. It reproduces by binary fission. Does not form spores. Most are not motile.