Ae.quo.ri.vi'ta. L. n. aequor ‐oris the even surface of the sea in its quiet state; L. fem. n. vita life; N.L. fem. n. Aequorivita life (living being) at the sea surface.

Bacteroidetes / Flavobacteriia / Flavobacteriales / Flavobacteriaceae / Aequorivita

Cells are straight or slightly curved rods or filaments, 0.5–20 × 0.2–2.2 µm. Gram‐stain‐negative. Cells occur singly or in pairs. Spores and resting cells are not present. Gas vesicles or ring‐shaped cells are not formed. Nonmotile. Strictly aerobic. Catalase‐positive. Oxidase test is negative or only weakly positive. Chemoheterotrophic. Nonagarolytic. Colonies are orange or yellow due to production of carotenoids. Flexirubin pigments are not produced. Most species require sea salts or Na ⁺ ions for growth. Tolerates up to 6% NaCl; growth with 10% NaCl is either weak or absent. Best growth occurs in organic media containing 1–3% NaCl or seawater salts. All species produce alkaline phosphatase and esterase (Tween 80) and hydrolyze L‐tyrosine and gelatin. Some species are strongly proteolytic and/or lipolytic. Growth occurs between 4 and 25°C. Some species can grow at 37°C. Optimal growth occurs at 20–30°C depending on the species. Optimal growth occurs at pH 7.0–8.5. The major fatty acids are C_15:1 iso, C_15:0 iso, C_15:0 anteiso, C_17:1 iso, C_15:0 3‐OH iso, and C_17:0 3‐OH iso. Known habitats include polar ocean seawater, sea‐ice, quartz stone sublithic biofilm, and surfaces of seaweed communities. Also reported to be associated with deep‐sea invertebrates.

DNA G + C content (mol%): 33–39 (T_m, HPLC, genome sequences).

Type species: Aequorivita antarctica Bowman and Nichols 2002, 1539^VP emend. Park et al., 2009, 726^VP emend. Liu, Zhang, Pan, Sun, Zhang, Li, Zhu and Wu 2013 3194^VP.