mycobacterium pinnipedii mycobacterium pinnipedii mycobacterium pinnipedii is a member of the mycobacterium tuberculosis complex which primarily infects seals. it is a slowly growing mycobacterium. the species is named after the pinnipeds, the organisms from which m. pinnipedii was first isolated. mycobacterium pinnipedii scientific classification domain: bacteria phylum: actinomycetota class: actinomycetia order: mycobacteriales family: mycobacteriaceae genus: mycobacterium species: m. pinnipedii binomial name mycobacterium pinnipediicousins et al. 2003, atcc baa-688 in 2014, a genetic study showed that peruvian human skeleton dating to 1000 ce had been infected with a form of tuberculosis most closely related to m. pinnipedii, suggesting that seals had served as a vector for transmission of tuberculosis from the old world to the new.