Halococcus is a genus of gram-negative, non-motile, spherical, red or orange bacteria which grows in very high concentrations of salt (NaCl) and can be found in (and can spoil) salted fish and meats. They are naturally found in extremely salty environments like the Dead Sea and the Great Salt Lake. These halophiles require at least a 9% salt solution to survive and can withstand up to a 32% salt solution. Halococcus belongs to the family Halobacteriaceae and the superclass Archaebacteria.


Some of the information in this writeup was taken from the science dictionary at http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/; I oversaw the development of the dictionary (the website was mothballed in 1998) and I believe I wrote the entry this is based on.