The taxonomic status of two aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, orange-reddish pigmented, motile, rod-shaped bacteria, designated KMM 9415(T) and KMM 9416, isolated from a deep surface-sediment sample from the Sea of Japan, was defined. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of strains KMM 9415(T) and KMM 9416 revealed their affiliation to the genus Devosia with a high sequence similarity of 98.5 % to both Devosia psychrophila DSM 22950(T) and Devosia glacialis LMG 26051(T). The novel strains were characterized by the predominance of the fatty acid C18 : 1ω7c followed by C16 : 1 and C16 : 0. The major isoprenoid quinone was Q-10 and the polar lipids comprised phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidic acid and unknown glycolipids. The DNA-DNA hybridization value of 88 % between the novel strains KMM 9415(T) and KMM 9416 confirmed their assignment to the same species. The values of DNA relatedness determined for strain KMM 9415(T) and the closely related strains D. psychrophila DSM 22950(T) and D. glacialis LMG 26051(T) were 21 % and 23 %, respectively. Based on distinctive phenotypic characteristics, phylogenetic analysis and DNA-DNA relatedness, it can be concluded that the novel strains KMM 9415(T) and KMM 9416 represent a novel species within the genus Devosia, for which the name Devosia submarina sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is the strain KMM 9415(T) (= NRIC 0884(T) = JCM 18935(T)).