[4][5][6] Afifella are found in marine and estuarine settings, including microbial mats.
[6] A. aestuarii is a motile, oval or rod-shaped, gram-stain-negative, oxidase-positive, catalase-negative, pink-coloured phototrophic bacteria.
[5] A. pfennigii was isolated from a benthic microbial mat from a brackish pond located on the Rangiroa atoll in the Tuamotu islands near Australia.
[5] A. pfennigii growth on a (DSMZ Medium 27), at 28 °C, supplemented with 1% NaCl and 0.15% NaHCO3, and is anaerobic in light.
[6] A. aestuarii requires thiamine to grow and is the only Afifella isolate capable of photolithoautotrophic, photoorganoheterotrophic and chemoorganoheterotrophic growth modes.