A carotenoid-containing chemoheterotrophic bacterium, designated IMCC1507(T), was isolated from a tidal flat sediment of the Yellow Sea, Korea. Strain IMCC1507(T) was Gram-negative, yellow, obligately aerobic, non-motile and flexirubin-negative. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain IMCC1507(T) belonged to the genus Lutibacter in the family Flavobacteriaceae and exhibited 96.1-97.3 % 16S rRNA sequence similarity with the type strains of described species of the genus Lutibacter. DNA-DNA relatedness between strain IMCC1507(T) and Lutibacter litoralis KCCM 42118(T) ranged from 3.5±2.2 % to 11.2±2.4 %, indicating that strain IMCC1507(T) represented a novel genomic species in the genus Lutibacter. Chemotaxonomic characteristics of the isolate, i.e. the DNA G+C content (31.4 mol%), iso-C15 : 0 3-OH, iso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 1 G and anteiso-C15 : 0 as the major fatty acids, MK-6 as the predominant menaquinone and phosphatidylethanolamine as the major polar lipid, were consistent with its assignment to the genus Lutibacter. However, several phenotypic characteristics, including hydrolysis of macromolecules, enzyme activities and carbon source oxidation, differentiated strain IMCC1507(T) from members of the genus. Data from this study indicate that strain IMCC1507(T) represents a novel species in the genus Lutibacter, for which the name Lutibacter flavus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is IMCC1507(T) ( = KACC 14312(T) = NBRC 107589(T)).