[1] Compared to other members of the Kocuria genus, this species is uniquely capable of growing at osmotic pressures as high as 15% NaCl.

[1] K. marina has the enzymes catalase, β-galactosidase, and urease, but it lacks arginine dihydrolase, lysine and ornithine decarboxylase, oxidase, and alkaline phosphatase.

This species reduces nitrate, but it does not release hydrogen sulfide gas.

It does not produce indole or acetoin, with the latter characteristic representing a negative Voges-Proskauer test result.

[1] The antibiotics ampicillin, benzylpenicillin, carbenicillin, gentamicin, lincomycin, neomycin, oleandomycin, streptomycin, and tetracycline inhibit this species' growth.