Nanoarchaeum equitans is a species of marine
Archaea that was discovered in 2002 in a
hydrothermal vent off the coast of
Iceland on the
Kolbeinsey Ridge by
Karl Stetter. Strains of this microbe were also found on the Sub-polar Mid Oceanic Ridge, and in the Obsidian Pool in
Yellowstone National Park. Since it grows in temperatures approaching boiling, at about 80 degrees Celsius, it is considered to be a
thermophile. It grows best in environments with a pH of 6, and a salinity concentration of 2%.
Nanoarchaeum appears to be an
obligate symbiont on the
archaeon Ignicoccus; it must be in contact with the host organism to survive.
Nanoarchaeum equitans cannot synthesize lipids but obtains them from its host. Its cells are only 400
nm in diameter, making it one of the smallest known cellular organisms, and the smallest known archaeon.