Dissulfurirhabdus thermomarina gen. nov., sp. nov., a thermophilic, autotrophic, sulfite-reducing and disproportionating deltaproteobacterium isolated from a shallow-sea hydrothermal vent T , was isolated from a shallow, submarine hydrothermal vent (Kuril Islands, Russia). Cells of strain SH388 T were Gramstain-negative short rods, 0.2-0.4 µm in diameter and 1.0-2.5 µm in length, and motile with flagella. The temperature range for growth was 25-58 C (optimum 50 C), and the pH range for growth was pH 5.0-7.0 (optimum pH 6.0-6.5). Growth of strain SH388T was observed in the presence of NaCl concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 4.0 % (w/v) (optimum 2.0-2.5 %). The strain grew chemolithoautotrophically with molecular hydrogen as electron donor, sodium sulfite as electron acceptor and bicarbonate/CO 2 as a carbon source. It was also able to grow by disproportionation of sulfite and elemental sulfur but not thiosulfate. Sulfate, Fe(III) and nitrate were not used as electron acceptors either with H 2 or organic electron donors. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the isolate belonged to the class Deltaproteobacteria and was most closely related to Dissulfuribacter thermophilus and Dissulfurimicrobium hydrothermale (91.6 % and 90.4 % sequence similarity). On the basis of its physiological properties and results of phylogenetic analyses, strain SH388 T is considered to represent a novel species of a new genus, for which the name Dissulfurirhabdus thermomarina gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the species is SH388 T (=DSM 100025. It is the first thermophilic disproportionator of sulfur compounds isolated from a shallow-sea environment.Chemolithoautotrophic micro-organisms can gain energy from a variety of inorganic compounds serving as electron donors and acceptors. Sulfur dioxide is one of the most typical and abundant volcanic gases. It is highly soluble in water; thus, in aquatic environments, including hydrothermal vents, SO 2 is usually present in the form of sulfite ions. Micro-organisms capable of dissimilatory sulfite reduction are phylogenetically diverse and include all sulfate-reducers as well as many nonsulfate-reducing species. Overall, the ability to use sulfite as an electron acceptor with organic or inorganic electron donors is known for representatives of the bacterial phyla Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Nitrospirae and Thermodesulfobacteria and for archaea of the phyla Crenarchaeota and Euryarchaeota (Simon & Kroneck, 2013; Slobodkin et al., 1999). Some sulfite-reducers are also capable of sulfite disproportionation. Growth coupled to disproportionation of sulfite