VIBRIO VULNIFICUS. VIBRIO VULNIFICUS This scanning electron micrograph (SEM) depicts a grouping of Vibrio vulnificus bacteria, Mag. 13184x. Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium in the same family as those that cause cholera. It normally lives in warm seawater and is part of a group of vibrios that are called ´halophilic´ because they require salt. V. vulnificus can cause disease in those who eat contaminated seafood or have an open wound that is exposed to contaminated seawater. Among healthy pe