The genus was first observed in 1980 by a British microbiologist, Prof. Anthony E. Walsby, from samples taken from the Sabkha Gavish, a brine lake in southern Sinai, Egypt.

The archaea generally contain granules of polyhydroxyalkanoates and hold a number of refractive vacuoles filled with gas that ensure buoyancy in an aqueous environment, and allow for maximum light absorption.

These gas vacuoles were discovered by Wallaby in 1980 when determining the identity of intracellular refractive bodies in the archaean's structure.

If evaporation continues, NaCl precipitates in the form of halite, leaving a brine rich in magnesium chloride (MgCl2).

[5] The genome of H. walsbyi has been completely sequenced, allowing access to a better understanding of the phylogenetic and taxonomic classification of this organism and its role in the ecosystem.

A genomic comparison of Spanish and Australian isolates (strains HBSQ001 and C23T) strongly suggests a rapid global dispersion, as they are remarkably similar and have maintained the order of genes.

[7] H. walsbyi is classified as an oligotrophic microorganism, as it grows in nutrient deficient conditions where concentrations of organic substances are minimal.

The high surface to volume ratio of H. walsbyi, due to its flattened shape, helps maximize nutrient uptake and overcome this limitation.

For example, H.walsbyi’s expression of the halomucin protein creates an aqueous protective layering that helps prevent desiccation of the cells.

[9] These adaptations allow H. walsbyi to thrive in environments such as saturated brines while also maintaining a defined square structure.

[13] As mentioned earlier, the location site of this distinctive microbe's discovery was in the transcontinental country of Egypt within the Sinai peninsula.

[4] However, with this discovery also came an extended period that consisted of intensive trial and error attempts to achieve complete isolation of H. walsbyi.

Because of how difficult it was to fully isolate this microorganism, there existed a vast gap in known information on H. walsbyi's physiological processes and genomic composition.

[14] In a specific hypersaline environment, Lake Tyrrell, Haloquadratum walsbyi made up nearly 38% of the community of archaea found when the ecosystem was cultured.

The salt saturated environments that this archaean inhabits, along with being rich in magnesium chloride, have very low activity within the water which causes desiccation stress.

[19] This environment is very hostile and H. walsbyi is only able to survive in it due to its unique genomic make up and while other organisms would perish in similar conditions.