Vibrion

[1][2] Bacteria of this genus were later anonymously described as “Capillary Eels” in the 1703 issue of Philosophical Transactions by a “Sir C. H.” because of their thin, wormlike appearance.

[4] He drew his conclusion from his observations of the thin, wormlike bacteria present in the blood and stool of cholera patients, especially characteristic of late-stage infections.

[6] The term “vibrion” was subsequently used by Louis Pasteur in 1861 in naming a bacterium he discovered, Vibryon butyrique, which was capable of surviving in an environment without oxygen.

[8][7] By the 20th century "vibrion" came to be used as a general term for motile microorganisms with an elongated, wormlike shape associated with pathogenic illnesses such as cholera and tetanus.

This is largely due to the more extensive development of bacterial taxonomy towards the turn of the 19th century, which gave bacteriologists a more specific way to classify microorganisms.