saccharolobus shibatae saccharolobus shibatae saccharolobus shibatae is an archaeal species belongs to the phylum thermoproteota. saccharolobus shibatae was described for the first time as sulfolobus shibatae in 1990, after being isolated from geothermal pools in beppu, japan. it was transferred from the genus sulfolobus to the new genus saccharolobus with the description of saccharolobus caldissimus in 2018. saccharolobus shibatae scientific classification domain: archaea phylum: thermoproteota class: thermoprotei order: sulfolobales family: sulfolobaceae genus: saccharolobus species: s. shibatae binomial name saccharolobus shibatae(grogan et al. 1991) sakai and kurosawa 2018 synonyms sulfolobus shibatae grogan et al. 1991 description with a diameter between 0.7-1.5 µm, this organism thrives at a ph and temperature optima of 3.0 and 80 °c, respectively. given the extreme conditions required for the growth of this microbe it is considered a thermoacidophile, as all organisms in the family sulfolobaceae. metabolism this organism can grow in complex organic compounds and in sugars, and since it has not been yet determined if s. shibatae can grow autotrophically, this organism is either a heterotrophic or mixotrophic archaeon.