Phocaeicola

Phocaeicola is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria in the family Bacteroidaceae, within the phylum Bacteroidota. The cells are non-spore-forming, non-motile, and vary from coccoid to rod-shaped. They are strictly anaerobic and typically found in the gastrointestinal tracts of humans and animals.^[1]

Phocaeicola
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Kingdom:	Pseudomonadati
Phylum:	Bacteroidota
Class:	Bacteroidia
Order:	Bacteroidales
Family:	Bacteroidaceae
Genus:	Phocaeicola Al Masalma et al., 2009

The type species, Phocaeicola abscessus, was isolated from a human brain abscess in the Turkish coastal city of Foça, formerly known as ancient Phocaea, which inspired the genus name.^[2]

In 2020, many species formerly classified in the genus Bacteroides were reassigned to Phocaeicola based on whole-genome phylogenetic analyses.^[1]

Species

As of 2025, the genus Phocaeicola contains the following validly published species:^[3]

• Phocaeicola abscessus Al Masalma et al. 2009
• Phocaeicola barnesiae (Lan et al. 2006) García-López et al. 2020
• Phocaeicola coprocola (Kitahara et al. 2005) García-López et al. 2020
• Phocaeicola coprophilus (Hayashi et al. 2007) García-López et al. 2020
• Phocaeicola dorei (Bakir et al. 2006) García-López et al. 2020
• Phocaeicola faecicola Choi et al. 2021
• Phocaeicola fibrisolvens Hitch et al. 2022
• Phocaeicola massiliensis (Fenner et al. 2005) García-López et al. 2020
• Phocaeicola oris Chen et al. 2023
• Phocaeicola paurosaccharolyticus (Ueki et al. 2011) García-López et al. 2020
• Phocaeicola plebeius (Kitahara et al. 2005) García-López et al. 2020
• Phocaeicola salanitronis (Lan et al. 2006) García-López et al. 2020
• Phocaeicola sartorii (Clavel et al. 2010) García-López et al. 2020
• Phocaeicola vulgatus (Eggerth and Gagnon 1933) García-López et al. 2020