A Gram stain negative, anaerobic, non motile, non spore forming, rod shaped bacterial strain named as NGMCC 1.200684 T was isolated from the fresh feces of rhinoceros in Beijing Zoo. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, phylogenetic analysis indicated that strain NGMCC 1.200684 T belonged to the genus Bacteroides and was most strongly related to the type strain of Bacteroides uniformis ATCC 8492 T (96.88%). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was determined to be 46.62 mol%. Between strains NGMCC 1.200684 T and Bacteroides uniformis ATCC 8492 T , the average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA DNA hybridization (dDDH) were 93.89 and 67.60%, respectively. Strain NGMCC 1.200684 T can produce acid from fermentation of several substrates, including glucose, mannitol, lactose, saccharose, maltose, salicin, xylose, cellobiose, mannose, ra nose, sorbitol, trehalose, D galactose maltotriose. The major cellular fatty acids (>10 %) were identi ed as anteiso C 15:0 , iso C 15:0 , iso C 14:0 , iso C 17:0 3 OH. The polar lipid pro le of strain NGMCC 1.200684 T was determined to contain diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, three unknown phospholipids, two unknown aminophospholipids. Based on phenotypic, phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic characteristics, a novel species of the genus Bacteroides, Bacteroides rhinocerotis sp. nov. is proposed.

A Gram˗stain˗negative, anaerobic, non˗motile, non˗spore˗forming, rod˗shaped bacterial strain named as NGMCC 1.200684T was isolated from the fresh feces of rhinoceros in Beijing Zoo. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, phylogenetic analysis indicated that strain NGMCC 1.200684T belonged to the genus Bacteroides and was most strongly related to the type strain of Bacteroides uniformis ATCC 8492T (96.88%). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was determined to be 46.62 mol%. Between strains NGMCC 1.200684T and Bacteroides uniformis ATCC 8492T, the average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA˗DNA hybridization (dDDH) were 93.89 and 67.60%, respectively. Strain NGMCC 1.200684T can produce acid from fermentation of several substrates, including glucose, mannitol, lactose, saccharose, maltose, salicin, xylose, cellobiose, mannose, raffinose, sorbitol, trehalose, D˗galactose，maltotriose. The major cellular fatty acids (>10 %) were identified as anteiso˗C15:0, iso˗C15:0, iso˗C14:0, iso˗C17:0 3˗OH. The polar lipid profile of strain NGMCC 1.200684T was determined to contain diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, three unknown phospholipids, two unknown aminophospholipids. Based on phenotypic, phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic characteristics, a novel species of the genus Bacteroides, Bacteroides rhinocerotis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NGMCC 1.200684T (=CGMCC 1.18013T=JCM 35702T).