[2][1][3][4] Aestuariicella hydrocarbonica was first isolated in 2015 from oil spill contaminated tidal flat sediments from the Dangjin bay in Korea.
Future research into its evolutionary history and genome may change the naming of this organism.
While rare in seawater, A. hydrocarbonica has shown a strong association with plastic debris of various polymer types.
[7] The distribution of A. hydrocarbonica is not yet described, but studies have found its presence in samples from South Korea [4] and the Mediterranean Sea.
[5][8][9] This suggests that it may have a broad geographic distribution or be associated with area with high human impact.