Table 1. Classification and general features of H. baltica according to the MIGS recommendations [14].

MIGS ID	Property	Term	Evidence code
	Current classification	Domain Bacteria	TAS [15]
		Phylum Proteobacteria	TAS [16]
		Class Alphaproteobacteria	TAS [17,18]
		Order Caulobacterales	TAS [19,20]
		Family Hyphomonadaceae	TAS [21]
		Genus Hirschia	TAS [2]
		Species Hirschia baltica	TAS [2]
		Type strain IFAM 1418	TAS [2]
	Gram stain	negative	TAS [2]
	Cell shape	rod-shaped	TAS [2]
	Motility	motile	TAS [2]
	Sporulation	none	TAS [2]
	Temperature range	mesophile	TAS [2]
	Optimum temperature	22-28°C	TAS [2]
	Salinity	artificial sea water, 0.5 – 8.6% NaCl	TAS [2]
MIGS-22	Oxygen requirement	aerobe	TAS [2]
	Carbon source	various amino acids, organic acids and sugars	TAS [2]
	Energy metabolism	chemoheterotroph	TAS [2]
MIGS-6	Habitat	brackish water	TAS [2]
MIGS-15	Biotic relationship	free living	TAS [2]
MIGS-14	Pathogenicity	none	NAS
	Biosafety level	1	TAS [22]
	Isolation	surface water samples	TAS [2]
MIGS-4	Geographic location	Baltic Sea, Kiel Fjord	TAS [2]
MIGS-5	Sample collection time	October 1982	NAS
MIGS-4.1	Latitude	approximately 54.5	NAS
MIGS-4.2	Longitude	approximately 10.2	NAS
MIGS-4.3	Depth	5 cm	TAS [2]
MIGS-4.4	Altitude	sea level	NAS

Evidence codes - TAS: Traceable Author Statement (i.e., a direct report exists in the literature); NAS: Non-traceable Author Statement (i.e., not directly observed for the living, isolated sample, but based on a generally accepted property for the species, or anecdotal evidence). These evidence codes are from of the Gene Ontology project [23].