A novel Gram-stain-negative, motile, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain WM35(T), was isolated from the intestinal tract of an abalone, Haliotis discus hannai, which was collected from the northern coast of Jeju in Korea. The cells of the isolate grew optimally at 30 °C, pH 7, and with 3 % (w/v) NaCl. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity comparisons, strain WM35(T) was grouped in the genus Shimia and was closely related to the type strains of Shimia isoporae (98.7 % similarity) and Shimia marina (97.8 % similarity). The major cellular fatty acids were summed feature 8 and C16 : 0 2-OH. Ubiquinone Q-10 was the predominant respiratory quinone. The polar lipids of strain WM35(T) comprised phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified aminolipid and an unidentified lipid. The DNA G+C content of the isolate was 53.8 mol%. DNA-DNA hybridization values indicated <16 % genomic relatedness with members of the genus Shimia. The physiological, chemical and genotypic analyses indicated that strain WM35(T) represents a novel species of the genus Shimia, for which the name Shimia haliotis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is WM35(T) ( = KACC 17212(T) = JCM 18870(T)).