An obligately aerobic, Gram-negative, non-motile, pale-pink-pigmented, rod-shaped strain, designated Shu-9-SY12-35C(T), was isolated from seawater in Jodogahama, Iwate, Japan, and was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic examination. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the novel isolate was affiliated with the family 'Flexibacteraceae' of the phylum Bacteroidetes and that it showed highest sequence similarity (86.4%) with Dyadobacter hamtensis HHS 11(T). The novel isolate is phenotypically and physiologically different from strains described previously. The G + C content of the DNA was 56.3 mol%, MK-7 was the major menaquinone and iso-C-15:0, C-16:1 omega 7c and iso-C-17:0 3-OH were the major fatty acids. On the basis of polyphasic taxonomic studies, it was concluded that strain Shu-9-SY12-35C(T) represents a new genus and species of the family 'Flexibacteraceae', for which the name Persicitalea jodogahamensis gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Persicitalea jodogahamensis is Shu-9-SY12-35C(T) (=MBIC07417(T) =IAM 15412(T) =KCTC 12866(T)).