A Gram-positive and endospore-forming strain, JH8T, was isolated from deep-sea sediment and identified as a member of the genus Paenibacillus on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence and phenotypic analyses. According to a phylogenetic analysis, the most closely related species was Paenibacillus wynnii LMG 22176T (96.9%). Strain JH8T was also facultatively anaerobic and grew optimally at 20-25degreesC. The major cellular fatty acid was anteiso-C15:0, and the DNA G+C content was 53.1 mol%. The DNA-DNA relatedness between the isolate and Paenibacillus wynnii LMG 22176T was 7.6%, indicating that strain JH8T and P. wynnii belong to different species. Based on the phylogenetic, phenotypic, and chemotaxonomic characteristics, strain JH8T would appear to belong to a novel species, for which the name Paenibacillus donghaensis sp. nov. is proposed (type strain =KCTC 13049T=LMG 23780T).