Oceanimonas aquatica sp. nov. and Arenibacter flavimaris sp. nov., isolated from seawater

The novel strains CHS3-5^T and M-2^T were isolated from seawater collected near <i>Suaeda japonica</i> colonies on Seongmodo Island, Republic of Korea. Strain CHS3-5^T was Gram-stain-negative, motile with flagella, rod-shaped, strictly aerobic and formed circular, convex, ivory-coloured colonies, while strain M-2^T was Gram-stain-negative, motile by gliding, rod-shaped, strictly aerobic and formed circular, raised, dark yellow colonies. Based on 16S rRNA and draft genome analyses, strains CHS3-5^T and M-2^T were identified as members of the <i>Oceanimonas</i> and <i>Arenibacter</i> genera, respectively. Strain CHS3-5^T grew at temperatures of 10-40 °C, pH 4.0-10.0 and in the presence of 2.0-11.0% NaCl, with optimal growth at 30 °C, pH 7.0 and 3.0% NaCl. Strain M-2^T grew at temperatures of 15-40 °C, pH 6.0-9.0 and in the presence of 2.0-4.0% NaCl, with optimal growth at 30 °C, pH 7.0 and 3.0% NaCl. Both novel strains showed low genomic relatedness to their respective type species. The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values were 84.5-85.7% and 26.5-34.7% for strain CHS3-5^T and 76.6-85.9% and 18.6-30.3% for strain M-2^T, respectively, supporting their classification as novel species. We propose the names <i>Oceanimonas aquatica</i> sp. nov. (type strain CHS3-5^T=KACC 23248^T=TBRC 17651^T) and <i>Arenibacter flavimaris</i> sp. nov. (type strain M-2^T=KACC 23249^T=TBRC 17650^T) for these strains.