:Palaeococcus ferrophilus

{{Short description|Species of archaeon}}

{{Speciesbox

| taxon = Palaeococcus ferrophilus

| authority = Takai et al. 2000

}}

Palaeococcus ferrophilus is a barophilic, hyperthermophilic archaeon from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimney. It cells are irregular cocci and motile with multiple polar flagella.{{cite journal|last1=Takai|first1=K.|last2=Sugai|first2=A.|last3=Itoh|first3=T.|last4=Horikoshi|first4=K.|title=Palaeococcus ferrophilus gen. nov., sp. nov., a barophilic, hyperthermophilic archaeon from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimney|journal=International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology|volume=50|issue=2|year=2000|pages=489–500|issn=1466-5026|doi=10.1099/00207713-50-2-489|pmid=10758851|doi-access=free}}

Paleococcus was the third genus within Euryarchaeota to be described in the literature. These organisms prefer to use elemental sulfur as an electron acceptor, but they can also use ferrous oxide.{{cite book|title=Water on Mars and Life|editor1=Tetsuya Tokano|access-date=2016-09-13|date=2004-09-14 |publisher=Springer Science and Business Media|isbn=3540206248|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o8SVQscnVEQC&q=%22Paleococcus+ferrophilus%22&pg=PA308|pages=308}}