Halomonas titanicae is a gram-negative, halophilic species of proteobacteria which was discovered on rusticles recovered from the wreck of the RMS Titanic. Cristina Sánchez-Porro et al. first isolated the bacterium in 2010 from a sample of rusticle obtained from the RMS Titanic in 1991.[1] One of the researchers, Henrietta Mann has estimated that the action of microbes like Halomonas titanicae may bring about the total deterioration of the Titanic by 2030.[2] While the bacteria have been identified as a potential danger to oil rigs and other man-made objects in the deep sea, it also has the potential to be used in bioremediation to accelerate the decomposition of shipwrecks littering the ocean floor.[3][4]

In summer 2016, using neutron diffraction, the facilities of the Institut Laue-Langevin demonstrate that a molecule called ectoine is used by these bacteria to survive the osmotic pressure that salt water causes on their membranes.[5]