Name: Moraxellaceae Rossau et al. 1991

Category: Family

Proposed as: fam. nov.

Etymology: Mo.ra.xel.la’ce.ae. N.L. fem. dim. n. Moraxella, type genus of the family; L. fem. pl. n. suff. -aceae, ending to denote a family; N.L. fem. pl. n. Moraxellaceae, the Moraxella family

Pronunciation (Latin), gender: mo-ra-xel-LA-ke-a͡e, feminine

Type genus: Moraxella Lwoff 1939 (Approved Lists 1980)

Valid publication: Rossau R, Van Landschoot A, Gillis M, De Ley J. Taxonomy of Moraxellaceae fam. nov., a new bacterial family to accommodate the genera Moraxella, Acinetobacter, and Psychrobacter and related organisms. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1991; 41:310-319.

IJSEM list: Anonymous. Notification list. Notification that new names and new combinations have appeared in volume 41, part 2 of the IJSB. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1991; 41:581.

Nomenclatural status: validly published under the ICNP

Taxonomic status: correct name

• Synonyms:

  • Name	Kind
    Perlucidibacaceae Liao et al. 2021	heterotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP
    Branhamaceae Catlin 1991	heterotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP, illegitimate name

• Emendations:
  • Flores-Félix et al. 2025 Flores-Felix JD, Garcia-Fraile P, Saati-Santamaria Z. Harmony in diversity: Reorganizing the families within the order Pseudomonadales. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2025; 0:108321. 🇪🇸 Oren A, Göker M. List of changes in taxonomic opinion no. 42. Notification of changes in taxonomic opinion previously published outside the IJSEM. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2025; 75:6793.
    Notes:
    • ⊕ Emendation accompanied by the inclusion of 10 genera in the family.

• Notes:
  • 🧕 Liao et al. (2020) assigned this family to the order Moraxellales Liao et al. 2021. Publication: Liao H, Lin X, Li Y, Qu M, Tian Y. Reclassification of the Taxonomic Framework of Orders Cellvibrionales, Oceanospirillales, Pseudomonadales, and Alteromonadales in Class Gammaproteobacteria through Phylogenomic Tree Analysis. mSystems 2020; 5:e00543-20. 🇨🇳
  • 🚃 The type genus of this family has alternatively been placed in the family Brucellaceae Breed et al. 1957 (Approved Lists 1980). Publication: Parker CD. Genus V. Thiobacillus Beijerinck 1904. In: Breed RS, Murray EGD, Smith NR (eds), Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, 7th edition, The Williams & Wilkins Co, Baltimore, 1957, p. 83-88.
  • 🚃 The type genus of this family has alternatively been placed in the family Branhamaceae Catlin 1991. Publication: Catlin BW. Branhamaceae fam. nov., a proposed family to accommodate the genera Branhamella and Moraxella. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1991; 41:320-323.
  • 🙄 This taxon name is occasionally misprinted (or affected by an OCR error) in some sources as: "Meraxellaceae"; "Morazellaceae"; "Mormllaceae"; "Muraxsellaceae".
  • 🎰 The BRCs most frequently used for deposits in this group are: DSM: 118; CCUG: 98; LMG: 72; CIP: 67; ATCC: 59; JCM: 55; NCTC: 45; KCTC: 42; CCM: 36; CCTCC: 19.

Subdivision:

Number of child taxa with a validly published and correct name: 14
Number of child taxa with a validly published name, including synonyms: 16
Total number of child taxa: 18

• Child taxa:

  • Name	Nomenclatural status	Taxonomic status
    Acinetobacter Brisou and Prévot 1954 (Approved Lists 1980)	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Agitococcus Franzmann and Skerman 1981	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Alkanindiges Bogan et al. 2003	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Amnimonas Lee et al. 2021	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Aquirhabdus Kim et al. 2020	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Branhamella Catlin 1970 (Approved Lists 1980)	validly published under the ICNP	synonym
    Cavicella França et al. 2015	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Enhydrobacter Staley et al. 1987	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Faucicola Humphreys et al. 2015	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Fluviicoccus Kim et al. 2016	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Hubeiibacter Xiao et al. 2026	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Lwoffella Sbissi et al. 2025	validly published under the ICNP	synonym
    [Mikrokokkus]	preliminary entry that lacks crucial information
    Moraxella Lwoff 1939 (Approved Lists 1980)	validly published under the ICNP, conserved name	correct name
    "Nasibacterium" Li et al. 2026	not validly published	preferred name
    Paraperlucidibaca Oh et al. 2011	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Perlucidibaca Song et al. 2008	validly published under the ICNP	correct name
    Psychrobacter Juni and Heym 1986	validly published under the ICNP	correct name

Parent taxon: Pseudomonadales Orla-Jensen 1921 (Approved Lists 1980)

Assigned by: Flores-Felix JD, Garcia-Fraile P, Saati-Santamaria Z. Harmony in diversity: Reorganizing the families within the order Pseudomonadales. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2025; 0:108321. 🇪🇸

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Record number: 902