A Gram-negative, rod-shaped and aerobic bacterial strain B3.7 T , was isolated from the sediment of Zhairuo Island, Zhoushan city, Zhejiang Province, PR China. Maximum growth of strain B3.7 T was observed at 30 °C when cultured in a medium containing 0.5 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences demonstrated that strain B3.7 T belonged to the genus Shinella ; it showed the highest sequence similarity of 98.47 % to Shinella kummerowiae CCBAU 25048 T . The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA–DNA hybridization values between strain B3.7 T and its reference strains were 82.9–84.2 % and 26.1–27.3 %, respectively. Chemotaxonomic analysis indicated that the sole respiratory quinone was Q-10 and the predominant cellular fatty acids were C 19 : 0 cyclo ω 8 c , C 16 : 0 , C 18 : 1  ω 7 c 11-methyl and summed feature 8 (C 18 : 1  ω 7 c and/or C 18 : 1  ω 6 c ). The polar lipid profile was composed of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, three unidentified phospholipids and two unidentified aminolipids. Collectively, strain B3.7 T can be considered to represent a novel species, for which the name Shinella sedimenti sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is B3.7 T (=MCCC 1K07163 T =LMG 32559 T ).