The Family Cryomorphaceae

<i>Cryomorphaceae</i> represents a family within the phylum Bacteroidetes and comprises primarily marine genera that include <i>Cryomorpha</i>, <i>Brumimicrobium</i>, <i>Crocinitomix</i>, <i>Owenweeksia</i>, <i>Fluviicola</i>, <i>Lishizhenia</i>, <i>Wandonia</i>, <i>Salinirepens</i>, <i>and Phaeocystidibacter</i>. This family lies between the family <i>Flavobacteriaceae</i> and the assemblage of taxa grouped within the order <i>Bacteroidales</i>. With the recent description of the family <i>Schleiferiaceae</i>, the family <i>Cryomorphaceae</i> is now clearly non-monophyletic. Cultured members of the <i>Cryomorphaceae</i> as it stands at the moment occur in a range of aquatic habitats including river epilithon, seawater, marine sediments, coastal sands, and endorheic water bodies. Molecular studies, however, suggest the family is present within a wide range of non-extreme ecosystems both marine and terrestrial, across tropical to polar regions. The accumulated data suggests members of the family have roles in aquatic ecosystem secondary production and are generally found in locations relatively rich in organic carbon. This contribution updates a previous review of this family presented in the 2nd edition of <i>Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology</i> (Bowman JP, Family III. <i>Cryomorphaceae</i>. In: Krieg NR, Staley JT, Brown DR, Hedlund BP, Paster BL, Ward NL, Ludwig W, Whitman WB (eds) Bergey’s manual of systematic bacteriology, vol 4, 2nd edn. Springer, New York, pp 322–326, 2011).