ZoBell — 202 — Marine Microbiology 



destruction of cellulose probably provides the energy source for sulfate re- 

 duction. Both aerobic and anaerobic cellulose decomposers are widely 

 distributed in the limans, according to Rubentschik (1933). He (19286) 

 isolated Actino?nyces melanogenes and several other aerobic cellulose de- 

 composers from liman mud and water. A good review of the microbiology 

 of liman mud is given by Rubentschik and Goicherman (1935), who 

 show that nitrifiers which oxidize ammonia to nitrite are active in concen- 

 trated salt solutions. Azotobacter-like organisms were found in the liman 

 mud but there was no evidence reported that they fixed nitrogen in the 

 limans. 



The freshening of certain limans in the Odessa region from 1932 to 

 1934 owing to floods from increased precipitation was found by Rubent- 

 schik and Goicherman (1936) to be responsible for an appreciable in- 

 crease in the bacterial content. In terms of separate physiological groups 

 the increases were as follows: 



Sulfur bacteria 100 to 10,000 times 



Sulfate reducers 10 to 1,000 times 



Putrefying bacteria 10 to 1,000 times 



Nitrifying bacteria 10 to 100 times 



Denitrifying bacteria 100 to 10,000 times 



Urea splitters 100 to 10,000 times 



Cellulose anaerobes 10 to 100 times 



Cellulose aerobes 10 to 1,000 times 



The salt optimum of halophilic sulfate reducers isolated from the limans 

 was observed to decrease from an average value of from 5 to 8 per cent 

 NaCl in 1932 to an average of from 2 to 4 per cent in 1934 after the 

 freshening of the limans. 



Most of the bacteria occurring in the mud were reported by Rubent- 

 schik et al. (1936) to be adsorbed on the sediment particles. Adsorbed 

 bacteria may survive in mud for long periods without undergoing detect- 

 able changes. Nitrification is diminished and sulfate reduction is in- 

 creased when the bacteria responsible for these processes are adsorbed on 

 mud particles. 



In hmans near Odessa containing 256%o of salt, Baranik-Pikowsky 

 (1927) demonstrated the presence of denitrifiers, H2S-producers, and other 

 physiological types of bacteria. He described several new species to which 

 he applied numbers but no names. Bergey et al. (1939) have assigned 

 names to his numbered species as follows: 



No. 19 Micrococcus halophilus No. 27 Achromobacter galophiliim 



No. 22 Micrococcus pikowskyi No. 30 Flavobacterium halophilum 



No. 25 Achromobacter pikowskyi No. 36 Achromobacter halophilum 



The extensive literature on the microbiology of liman mud has been 

 summarized by Issatchenko (1938). 



Great Salt Lake : — This extremely saline body of water, now covering 

 an area of 1,120 square miles in northern Utah, is the remnant of Lake 

 Bonneville, an old fresh-water lake 19,000 square miles in area. At the 

 present time it is saturated with NaCl, Na2S04, and probably CaCOa, the 

 water containing about 335 grams of salt per liter, or about ten times as 

 much as normal sea water. Pack (1919) reported that one crustacean, 

 four protozoans, nine algae, two fly larvae, and several bacterial species 

 live in Great Salt Lake. Two ciliates inhabiting the lake were found to 



