A Gram-negative, aerobic, greyish-yellowish-pigmented, stenohaline, rod-shaped, non-motile bacterium, strain KMM 3900(T), was isolated from a coastal seawater sample collected from the Sea of Japan. Based on phylogenetic analysis, strain KMM 3900(T) was positioned within the Gammaproteobacteria on a separate branch adjacent to members of the genera Reinekea and Kangiella, sharing less than 88 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with all recognized species of the Gammaproteobacteria. The major isoprenoid quinone was Q-8. Polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and two unknown phospholipids. Fatty acid analysis revealed iso-C(15 : 0), C(16 : 1)omega7c and C(16 : 0) as the dominant components. The DNA G+C content was 43.8 mol%. Based on its unique phenotypic characteristics and phylogenetic remoteness, marine isolate KMM 3900(T) is considered to represent a novel genus and species, for which the name Marinicella litoralis gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Marinicella litoralis is KMM 3900(T) (=NRIC 0758(T) =JCM 16154(T)).