Four aerobic, heterotrophic, yellow-pigmented and flexirubin-producing bacterial strains with gliding motility were isolated from acidic Sphagnum-dominated wetlands of Northern Russia. These bacteria are capable of degrading xylan, laminarin and some other polysaccharides, but not cellulose, pectin or chitin. The four strains possess almost identical 16S rRNA gene sequences and are most closely related (98.9-99.5 % sequence similarity) to the recently reclassified species of the phylum Bacteroidetes, Chitinophaga arvensicola Kämpfer et al. 2006, formerly known as [Cytophaga] arvensicola Oyaizu et al. 1983. However, the novel isolates from Sphagnum peat differed from C. arvensicola DSM 3695(T) in their ability to degrade xylan and starch, by greater tolerance of acidic pH and by their inability to reduce nitrate. An emended description of this species is proposed.