A novel Gram-stain-positive actinobacterium, designated strain SCSIO 11529T, was isolated from tissues of the stony coral Galaxea fascicularis, and characterized by using a polyphasic approach. The temperature range for growth was 22–50 °C (optimum 28–45 °C), the pH range for growth was 6.0–8.0 (optimum pH 7.0), and the NaCl concentration range for growth was 0–7 % (w/v) NaCl. The polar lipid profile contained diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylmethylethanolamine, phosphatidylethanolamine and an unknown polar lipid. The predominant menaquinone was MK-9(H4). The major fatty acids (>10 %) were iso-C16 : 0, iso-C17 : 1ω6c, iso-C16 : 1 H and C16 : 1ω7c/iso-C15 : 0 2-OH. The DNA G+C content of strain SCSIO 11529T was 70.2 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain SCSIO 11529T belongs to the genus
Prauserella
, with the closest neighbours being
Prauserella marina
MS498T (97.0 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity),
Prauserella rugosa
DSM 43194T (96.4 %) and
Prauserella flava
YIM 90630T (95.9 %). Based on the evidence of the present study, strain SCSIO 11529T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus
Prauserella
, for which the name Prauserella coralliicola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SCSIO 11529T ( = DSM 45821T = NBRC 109418T).
A tentacle for every occasion: comparing the hunting tentacles and sweeper tentacles, used for territorial competition, in the coral Galaxea fascicularis
