A Gram-reaction-negative, facultatively anaerobic bacterial strain, designated WH134(T), was isolated from a seawater sample collected at a depth of 10 m near the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass (YSCWM), 3 ° 59.970' N 12 ° 0.157' E, PR China. Cells of strain WH134(T) were slightly curved rods, motile by means of a polar flagellum and positive for poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) accumulation. The strain was able to grow in 1-6 % (w/v) NaCl, at pH 5-10 and 16-37 °C but not at 4 or 40 °C. The major cellular fatty acids were summed feature 3 C₁₆:₁ω7c and/or iso-C₁₅:₀ 2-OH, C₁₆:₀, C₁₈:₁ω7c, C₁₈:₀ and C₁₄:₀. The DNA G+C content was 42.5 mol%. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA, gyrB, topA, recA, ftsZ, mreB, gapA and rpoA gene sequences revealed that strain WH134(T) belongs to the genus Vibrio and showed gene sequence similarities of 96.6, 75.7, 74.6, 83.6, 78.9, 82.9, 86.0 and 89.4 % , respectively, to Vibrio rumoiensis S-1(T). The possession of a flagellum, activity of arginine dihydrolase and lysine decarboxylase and inability to utilize citrate, however, differentiated strain WH134(T) from V. rumoiensis DSM 19141(T). On the basis of the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic evidence, strain WH134(T) represents a novel species of the genus Vibrio, for which the name Vibrio marisflavi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is WH134(T) (=CGMCC 1.8994(T) =LMG 25284(T) =DSM 23086(T)).