The taxonomic position of a Gram-stain-positive, endospore-forming, halophilic strain, designated CAU 348(T), isolated from sea sand was investigated using a polyphasic approach. Colony morphology, biochemical tests and chemotaxonomic investigations revealed that strain CAU 348(T) had the characteristics of the genus Bacillus. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that the organism formed a hitherto unknown subline within the genus Bacillus. Sequence divergence values of more than 4.3 % from other described Bacillus species, together with phenotypic differences, showed that the unidentified bacterium represents a previously unrecognized member of this genus. The genotypic and phenotypic data indicated that strain CAU 348(T) represents a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus chungangensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CAU 348(T) (=KCTC 13566(T) =CCUG 57835(T)).