An aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, non-motile bacterium, KMM 9530 T , was isolated from a sediment sample collected from the Sea of Japan seashore. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis positioned novel strain KMM 9530 T in the genus Loktanella as a separate line adjacent to Loktanella sediminilitoris KCTC 32383 T , Loktanella tamlensis JCM 14020 T and Loktanella maricola JCM 14564 T with 98.5-98.2 % sequence similarity. Strain KMM 9530 T was characterized by its weak hydrolytic capacity and inability to assimilate most organic substrates. The major isoprenoid quinone was Q-10, polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, an unknown phospholipid, an unknown aminolipid and unknown lipids, and the major fatty acid was C 18 : 1 v7c. On the basis of phylogenetic analysis, DNA-DNA hybridization and phenotypic characterization, it can be concluded that the novel strain KMM 9530 T represents a novel species in the genus Loktanella, for which the name Loktanella maritima sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the species is KMM 9530 T (5NRIC 0919 T 5JCM 19807 T ).The genus Loktanella was initially proposed by Van Trappen et al. (2004) to accommodate three species, Loktanella salsilacus, as the type species of the genus, Loktanella vestfoldensis and Loktanella fryxellensis, and subsequently emended by Moon et al. (2010), Lee (2012) and Tsubouchi et al. (2013) Here we report the polyphasic characterization of a Gramstain-negative, aerobic, beige-pigmented, non-motile bacterium, designated KMM 9530 T , which was isolated from a shallow sediment sample. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that strain KMM 9530 T belongs to the genus Loktanella and may represent a novel species of this genus. Differential phenotypic properties, together with phylogenetic distinctiveness and DNA relatedness, demonstrated that strain KMM 9530 T differed from related species of the genus Loktanella. On the basis of phenotypic and molecular data obtained, a novel species, Loktanella maritima sp. nov., is described..Strain KMM 9530 T was isolated from a shallow sediment sample, collected from Peter the Great Bay, the Sea of Japan, Russia, as described previously (Romanenko et al., 2004). Strain KMM 9530 T was grown aerobically on/in marine 2216 agar (MA) or marine broth (MB; BD Difco), and stored at 280 u C in MB supplemented with 30 % (v/v) glycerol. The type strains L. sediminilitoris KCTC 32383 T , L. maricola JCM 14564 T , L. tamlensis JCM 14020 T and L. rosea KMM 6003 T were kindly provided by the respective culture collections and used in the phenotypic and lipids analyses. Gram staining, oxidase and catalase reactions, and motility (hanging drop method) were tested as described by Gerhardt et al. (1994). The morphology of cells negatively stained with 1 % phosphotungstic acid was examined by electronic transmission microscopy [Libra 200Abbreviations: ASW, artificial seawater; DPG, diphosphatidylglycerol; PC, phosphatidylcholine; PG, phosphatidylglycerol.The GenB...