Clostridium oceanicum, sp. n., a sporeforming anaerobe isolated from marine sediments.

Fourteen strains of a terminal-spored anaerobe were isolated from marine sediments obtained off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of tropical South America. These strains are proteolytic, lecithinolytic, only slightly saccharolytic, often form cells with two spores, and appear unlike any described species of terminal-spored, proteolytic anaerobe. The name Clostridium oceanicum is suggested. The type strain (no. 25647) is deposited in the American Type Culture Collection.