This Gram positive coccus is found in tetrads, irregular clusters, and cubical packets of eight. It is catalase positive, oxidase positive, and exhibits strictly aerobic metabolism. Able to use glucose aerobically. Optimum growth temperature is 25-37 C. It is primarily isolated from mammalian skin, but can also be infrequently found in soil and water. Very little evidence of its involvement in the disease process, but has been recovered infrequently from tissue samples of immunocompromised patients. Once considered a species of the genus Micrococcus.