Tags: Archaea.
Nanoarchaeum equitans is a species of marine Archaea that was discovered in 2002 in a hydrothermal vent off the coast of Iceland on the Kolbeinsey Ridge by Karl Stetter. Strains of this microbe were also found on the Sub-polar Mid Oceanic Ridge and in the Obsidian Pool in Yellowstone National Park. Since it grows in temperatures approaching boiling at about 80 degrees Celsius it is considered to be a thermophile. It grows best in environments of a pH of 6 and a salinity concentration of 2%.
