A Gram-positive, moderately halotolerant bacterium, designated CL-GR16(T), was isolated from coastal water off the east coast of Korea. The strain was strictly aerobic, rod-shaped, motile by means of peritrichous flagella and produced ellipsoidal spores. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the isolate represented an independent lineage within Bacillus rRNA group 1, showing 93.6-94.6 % similarity with respect to the genus Ornithinibacillus, 94.0 % with respect to Paucisalibacillus, 91.0-93.5 % with respect to Virgibacillus, 93.2-93.3 % with respect to Salinibacillus and 92.8-93.2 % with respect to Oceanobacillus. The optimum temperature and pH for growth were 30 degrees C and pH 7.5. Strain CL-GR16(T) was able to grow at NaCl concentrations from 0 to 14 %, with optimum growth occurring at 0-2 % NaCl. The strain lacked oxidase. The major fatty acids were anteiso-C(15 : 0) (65.6 %), anteiso-C(17 : 0) (11.0 %) and iso-C(15 : 0) (9.1 %). The polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and an unidentified glycolipid. The predominant menaquinone was MK-7. The G+C content of the DNA was 43 mol%. On the basis of the results of the polyphasic analysis, strain CL-GR16(T) represents a novel genus and species, for which the name Pelagibacillus goriensis gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is strain CL-GR16(T) (=KCCM 42329(T)=DSM 18252(T)).