Bacterial strain CP183-8(T) was isolated from biological soil crusts collected in the Colorado Plateau, USA. Cells of this strain were aerobic, non-motile, Gram-negative, psychrotolerant and formed beaded chains in the stationary growth phase. They contained C(16 : 1)omega5c and C(16 : 1)omega7c as major fatty acids. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis assigned the strain to the genus Dyadobacter. However, it shared a sequence similarity of only 95.88 % with the type strain of Dyadobacter fermentans, NS114(T). Because it also exhibited a significant number of phenotypic and chemotaxonomic differences from D. fermentans, it is described as a novel second species in the genus Dyadobacter, with the name Dyadobacter crusticola sp. nov. The type strain is CP183-8(T) (=DSM 16708(T) = ATCC BAA-1036(T)).