A Gram-negative, coccoid to short rod-shaped, non-spore-forming, moderately halophilic bacterium, designated strain YIM 90738T, was isolated from a salt lake in Xinjiang province, north-west China, and was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. The strain was non-motile and grew at pH 6.0-8.0 (optimal growth at pH 7.0), 10-55 degrees C (optimal growth at 37 degrees C) and salinities of 1-15% NaCl (w/v, optimal growth at 8% NaCl). Ubiquinone 10 was detected as the major respiratory quinone. The cellular fatty acid profile had C18:1omega7c (80.4% of the total) as the major component, similar to those of members of the genus Paracoccus. The nearest phylogenetic neighbour of strain YIM 90738T was the type strain of Paracoccus homiensis, as determined by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis (97.5% similarity). The level of DNA-DNA relatedness between P. homiensis DSM 17862T and strain YIM 90738T was 51.5%. The G+C content of the genomic DNA of strain YIM 90738T was 60.3 mol%. On the basis of phenotypic and phylogenetic data and its genotypic distinctiveness, strain YIM 90738T (=CCTCC AB 206074T=KCTC 22163T) is proposed as the type strain of a novel species of the genus Paracoccus, Paracoccus saliphilus sp. nov.