A taxonomic study was performed on strain D7015T, which was isolated from coastal sediment close to a coal-fired power station in Qingdao, China. Cells of strain D7015T were Gram-positive, non-motile, diphtheroid rods that grew in the presence of 0-8% (w/v) NaCl and at 4-37 degrees C, with optimum growth at 1% (w/v) NaCl and 30-32 degrees C. The DNA G+C content was 65.0 mol%. The major fatty acids were C18:1omega9c (56.18%), C16:0 (38.02%), C16:1omega7c (4.45%), C18:0 (1.0%) and C14:0 (0.35%). On the basis of morphological, physiological and phylogenetic characteristics, strain D7015T was classified in the genus Corynebacterium. It exhibited a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 95.9% and a DNA-DNA relatedness value of 20.4% with Corynebacterium halotolerans DSM 44683T. Strain D7015T was sufficiently different from recognized species of the genus Corynebacterium to be considered to represent a novel species. The name Corynebacterium marinum sp. nov. is proposed, with strain D7015T (=CGMCC 1.6998T=NRRL B-24779T) as the type strain.