Strain CCUG 50899, a Gram-negative, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming, motile bacterium isolated from industrial environment in Sweden and tentatively assigned to the species Ochrobactrum anthropi, was studied in order to clarify its taxonomic status. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities placed the strain in the genus Ochrobactrum, sharing highest similarity with the type strains of Ochrobactrum rhizosphaerae (99.3 %), Ochrobactrum thiophenivorans (98.7 %), Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense (98.6 %) and Ochrobactrum grignonense (98.5 %). The fatty acid profile of [O. anthropi] CCUG 50899 (major fatty acids C(18 : 1)omega7c and C(19 : 0) cyclo omega8c and presence of C(18 : 1) 2-OH), the polar lipid profile (diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine, phosphatidylethanolamine, two unknown aminolipids and an unknown phospholipid), the presence of the quinone system ubiquinone Q-10 and a polyamine pattern with the major compounds putrescine and spermidine and moderate amounts of sym-homospermidine supported its affiliation to the genus Ochrobactrum. DNA-DNA reassociation experiments with the type strains of its closest relatives O. rhizosphaerae, O. pseudogrignonense, O. thiophenivorans and O. grignonense demonstrated that [O. anthropi] CCUG 50899 should be placed in a novel species, which is distinguishable from related species by a set of biochemical traits. Based on these data, reclassification of [O. anthropi] CCUG 50899 as the type strain of a novel species appears to be justified. Hence, we describe a novel species to accommodate this strain, for which we propose the name Ochrobactrum pituitosum sp. nov. The type strain is CCUG 50899(T) (=DSM 22207(T)).