A novel aerobic, Gram-negative bacterium, designated 3X/A02/235T, was isolated from the surface of coastal waters in the north-western Mediterranean Sea. Cells were motile, straight rods, 1.6 microm long and 0.5 microm wide, and formed cream colonies on marine agar medium. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 61 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence placed the strain in the class Gammaproteobacteria and within the family Alteromonadaceae. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons and physiological and biochemical characteristics, this isolate represents a novel species of a novel genus, for which the name Haliea salexigens gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Haliea salexigens is 3X/A02/235T (=DSM 19537T =CIP 109602T =MOLA 286T).