Tessaracoccus aquimaris sp. nov., isolated from the intestine of a Korean rockfish, Sebastes schlegelii, from a marine aquaculture pond.

A novel coccus-shaped, Gram-stain-positive, non-motile and aerobic bacterium, designated strain NSG39, was isolated from the intestine of a Korean rockfish, Sebastes schlegelii. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the newly isolated strain NSG39 was closely related to Tessaracoccus flavus RP1 (98.0 %). The isolate grew at 15-37 °C, pH 7-9 and 0-4 % (w/v) salinity, with optimal growth at 30 °C, pH 8 and 0 % (w/v) salinity. The cell wall of the organism contained ll-diaminopimelic acid as a diagnostic diamino acid, and ribose, mannose, glucose and galactose as diagnostic sugars. The polar lipid comprised diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, three glycolipids and four unidentified polar lipids. The major cellular fatty acid was anteiso-C15 : 0 (47.2 %). The major menaquinone was MK-9 (H4). The DNA G+C content of the isolate was 68.8 mol%. The genome-based orthologous average nucleotide identity value for strain NSG39 and T. flavus RP1 was 76.6 %. Based on the phylogenetic analysis and its biological characteristics, strain NSG39 is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Tessaracoccus, for which the name Tessaracoccus aquimaris is proposed. The type strain is NSG39 (=KACC 17540=JCM 19289).