ZoBell — 8 — Marine Microbiology 



gal, which he attributed to the existence of a submarine ridge with rich 

 fauna. 



During a trip to Scotland, Iceland, and Spitzbergen on the pas- 

 senger liner Grosser Kurfurst, Hesse (19 14) found from 45 to 10,000 bac- 

 teria per ml. of surface water which was collected in a sterile sail-cloth 

 sampler. Except near land, the largest bacterial populations were found 

 where the warmer water from the Atlantic Ocean meets the colder water 

 from the Arctic. In this region many marine organisms die due to the 

 sudden change in temperature, thereby providing a plentiful food supply 

 for bacteria. 



Most of the bacteria isolated by Hesse (1914) were motile rods or 

 vibrios. The majority were denitrifiers. They grew better at refrigera- 

 tion temperatures than at 37° C. Room temperature was optimum for 

 their growth. The organisms would grow in either sea-water or fresh- 

 water nutrient media. 



Intensification of hydrobacteriological investigations : — In a 300-page 

 Russian monograph which includes 420 references to the relevant liter- 

 ature, IssATCHENKO (1914) reviewed his own and others' observations on 

 the occurrence and importance of bacteria in the sea. Whereas most 

 earlier workers had been concerned primarily with establishing the pres- 

 ence of bacteria in the sea and studying some of the factors which influ- 

 ence their distribution, Issatchenko placed the emphasis upon the im- 

 portance of bacteria in the sea as biochemical agents. He found a physi- 

 ologically versatile microflora including nitrifiers, denitrifiers, nitrogen- 

 fixers, sulfate-reducers, ammonifiers, and other types of organisms in the 

 water of Arctic seas to depths of 65 to 100 meters and in the bottom mud. 

 He also reported the presence of yeasts. Most of the organisms were 

 functional at 1° to 3° C. 



From the White Sea, Barents Sea, and Arctic Ocean along the Murman 

 coast of northern Russia, Issatchenko (1914) isolated the following or- 

 ganisms which were described as new species: Bacillus kildini, Bacterium 

 amforeti, Bad. arcticum, Bad. harentsianum, Bad. beijerincki, Bad. hreit- 

 fussi, Bad. fausseki, Bad. flavum, Bad. knipowitchi, Bad. linkoe, Bad. 

 marinum, Bad. papillare, Bad. septentrionale, Bad. siccum, Bad. spirale, 

 Micrococcus boreus, M. catharinensis, M. centropundatus, M. gelatinosus, 

 M. marinus, M. minutissimus, Microspira murmanensis, Chromatium 

 gohii, and Thiodidyon minus. 



The period of preliminary exploration terminated in 19 14, probably as 

 a result of World War I which restricted research activities at sea and 

 along the coasts of belligerent nations. There followed a period of rela- 

 tive quiescence for a decade, after which the modern era of quantitative 

 and applied hydrobacteriology began. As pointed out by Gee (1932J), 

 "Many of the early workers, prompted possibly by curiosity, attacked 

 the problem in a sweeping way and did succeed in establishing the wide- 

 spread occurrence of bacteria in the ocean. Later, as they sought to un- 

 ravel the skein of complicating factors, their efforts have been directed 

 more towards an ecological understanding of geographically limited 

 areas, of restricted bacterial groups, or of one or two chemical processes 

 influenced by bacteria. There has been a growing tendency in favor of 

 an intense attack on some definite phase of the problem as most pro- 

 ductive of useful results." 



During the last two decades the emphasis has been increasingly upon 



