Name: Catabacter hongkongensis Lau et al. 2014

Category: Species

Proposed as: sp. nov.

Etymology: hong.kong.en’sis. N.L. masc. adj. hongkongensis, in honor of Hong Kong, the place where the type strain was isolated

Pronunciation, gender: hon͡g-kon͡g-EN-sis, masculine

Type strain: CCUG 54229; DSM 18959; HKU16; JCM 17853

See detailed strain information at

Conduct genome-based taxonomy at

16S rRNA gene: AB671763 Analyse FASTA

Effective publication: Lau SK, Fan RY, Lo HW, Ng RH, Wong SS, Li IW, Wu AK, Ng KH, Tseung S, Lee RA, et al. High mortality associated with Catabacter hongkongensis bacteremia. J Clin Microbiol 2012; 50:2239-2243.

IJSEM list: Oren A, Garrity GM. Validation list no. 159. List of new names and new combinations previously effectively, but not validly, published. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2014; 64:2927-2929.

Nomenclatural status: validly published under the ICNP

Taxonomic status: correct name (and explicitly recommended for medical use)

Risk group: 2

• Synonyms:

  • Name	Kind
    "Catabacter hongkongensis" Lau et al. 2007	homotypic synonym, not validly published
    Christensenella hongkongensis (Lau et al. 2014) Liu et al. 2021	homotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP

• Notes:
  • 🥇 Nomenclatural type of the genus Catabacter Lau et al. 2014. Publication: Lau SK, Fan RY, Lo HW, Ng RH, Wong SS, Li IW, Wu AK, Ng KH, Tseung S, Lee RA, et al. High mortality associated with Catabacter hongkongensis bacteremia. J Clin Microbiol 2012; 50:2239-2243.
  • 😷 The risk group for Canada has been imported on 2024-02-27. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "Animal classification RG: 1 - Security sensitive biological agent: No - Terrestrial animal pathogen under Canadian Food Inspection Agency authority: No - Containment level: Containment Level 2". — The risk group for Germany has been imported on 2023-10-29. The full classification is: risk group = 2. — If in doubt, use the risk group given in the regulations for your country and, if these are not available, use the risk group given in the catalogue of the culture collection from which you have obtained or intend to obtain the strain.
  • 🎓 Name mentioned 17 times in PubMed until 2025-06-04.
  • 🙆 This name is on the List of Recommended Names for bacteria of medical importance (LoRN) as the name to be applied to this species. The name is on LoRN because of the recorded risk group of the species itself.
  • ⚠ This name is retained (and recommended for medical use. This will change in the future) instead of Christensenella hongkongensis (Lau et al. 2014) Liu et al. 2021. Publication: Liu X, Sutter JL, de la Cuesta-Zuluaga J, Waters JL, Youngblut ND, Ley RE. Reclassification of Catabacter hongkongensis as Christensenella hongkongensis comb. nov. based on whole genome analysis. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2021; 71:4774. Oren A, Garrity GM. Notification list. Notification that new names and new combinations have appeared in volume 71, part 4 of the IJSEM. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2021; 71:4850.
  • 🧍 According to Bartlett et al. (2022), this species is an established human pathogen. Publication: Bartlett A, Padfield D, Lear L, Bendall R, Vos M. A comprehensive list of bacterial pathogens infecting humans. Microbiology (Reading) 2022; 168:0.

Parent taxon: Catabacter Lau et al. 2014

Assigned by: Lau SK, Fan RY, Lo HW, Ng RH, Wong SS, Li IW, Wu AK, Ng KH, Tseung S, Lee RA, et al. High mortality associated with Catabacter hongkongensis bacteremia. J Clin Microbiol 2012; 50:2239-2243.

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Record number: 798690