**8. Conclusion**

Halophiles have long been an area of interest for many scientists. These organisms' abilities to withstand such harsh environments that would prove to be impossible to others, is one of their most intriguing characteristics. While halophilic bacteria and archaea have been on scientists' radar longer and have been more studied, this does not lessen the importance of the more recently discovered halophilic viruses. Both the culture-dependent and the culture-independent research strategies that have been used over the past 47 years have given us a great amount of insight into these halophilic viruses. We were able to learn not only where these types of viruses can be found but what types of prokaryotic hosts they prey upon. It has also helped us better understand the influential role that these viruses play within the environment. They help control and maintain the prokaryotic population, but they also have the potential to serve as a way of genetic communication between differing cell types. Haloviruses can appear in a wide variety of morphologies, each of which having their own life cycles and forms of infection. Each of these morphologies taken on by halophilic viruses can be found in hypersaline environments all over the world. It is undeniable that there has been many groundbreaking findings when looking into halophiles and the types of viruses than can infect them. While there is a decent amount of data present about halophilic viruses, more research as well as more in-depth research is needed. If we were able better understand the survival and infection methods employed by these halophilic viruses as well as their possible influential role on the genetics of other present bacteriophages, this would open up even more doors in the field of halophilic research.
