In taxonomy, the Halobacteria (also Halomebacteria) are a class of the Euryarchaeota, found in water saturated or nearly saturated with salt. Halobacteria are now recognized as archaea, rather than bacteria. The name 'halobacteria' was assigned to this group of organisms before the existence of the domain Archaea was realized, and remains valid according to taxonomic rules. In a non-taxonomic context, halophilic archaea are referred to as haloarchaea to distinguish them from halophilic bacteria.