Staphylococcus, a genus of Gram-positive bacteria, has a round
shape (cocci) and forms grape-like clusters. Most species in the
Staphylococcus genus are harmless and normally reside on the skin
and mucous membranes of many organisms, including humans.
Found worldwide, they are also a small component of soil microbial
flora. Staphylococcus spp. are facultative anaerobes and are halotolerant.
These characteristics suggest it is unsurprising that they
may be isolated from jeotgal and appear to inhabit fish and other
sea organisms. The species isolated in this study were negative for
coagulase, and their pathogenicities have not been reported.