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# The Vampire in the Pond
- URL: https://www.livingrecordbiology.com/the-vampire-in-the-pond/
- Published: 2026-10-28T17:00:54.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-28T17:00:54.000Z
- Author: Christopher Garner, PhD
- Tags: The Margins

*Specimen of the Month · October 2026* 

For a green alga, sunlight is a way to make a living. For *Vampirovibrio chlorellavorus*, it is a way to have someone else make dinner. For this month’s Specimen of the Month, we’re showcasing one of the “spookier” bacteria.

*Vampirovibrio chlorellavorus* is a predatory bacterium that feeds on *Chlorella*, a genus of microscopic green algae. It attaches to a living algal cell and consumes its contents, leaving behind an emptied cell wall. Basically, it lets someone else do the hard work of making food via photosynthesis and then pounces. And yes, this is actually why this genus is named *Vampirovibrio*.

A 2015 genome study offered an explanation for how the bacterium might breach its prey’s defenses. Researchers identified genes for a type IV secretion system, machinery bacteria can use to transfer molecules into other cells. They proposed that *Vampirovibrio* uses such a system to deliver DNA and digestive enzymes into its prey.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/63/d5/63d5a6d9-8eb5-4908-906c-63c21a77373e/content/images/2026/10/image.png)

(i) **V. chlorellavorus* seeks out **C. vulgaris* cells via chemotaxis and flagella. (ii) It attaches to prey cells via a type IV secretion system (T4SS). (iii) Plasmid DNA and hydrolytic enzymes are transferred to the prey cells via the T4SS where they degrade algal cell content. (iv) Algal cell exudates are ingested by **V. chlorellavorus* allowing it to replicate by binary division. (v) Progeny are released completing the cycle. S, starch granule; M, mitochondria; N, nucleus. ****Image and Caption Credit**: [https://peerj.com/articles/968/](https://peerj.com/articles/968/?ref=livingrecordbiology.com)

Studying this specimen gives us a useful way to picture microbial life. Often, people don’t think of bacteria as taking part in ecological relationships of this nature. But the ways that bacteria obtain their food are as diverse as the organisms themselves. And if you’re a *Chlorella* algae, sometimes the ways bacteria eat can be downright spooky.