A Gram-negative, aerobic bacterium, designated strain TNR-14T, was isolated from water of a stream located in southern Taiwan. Cells were rod-shaped and motile by means of a polar flagellum. The isolate exhibited optimum growth at 20 degrees C, at pH 7.0 and in the absence of NaCl. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the strain belonged to the genus Chitinibacter and was related most closely to the type strain of Chitinibacter tainanensis (96.0% similarity). The predominant cellular fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C16:1omega7c and/or C16:1omega6c; 54.03%) and C16:0 (27.22%). The DNA G+C content of strain TNR-14T was 57.5 mol%. The results of physiological and biochemical tests and chemotaxonomic data allowed the clear phenotypic differentiation of the new isolate from Chitinibacter tainanensis. Strain TNR-14T is therefore considered to represent a novel species of the genus Chitinibacter, for which the name Chitinibacter alvei sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is TNR-14T (=LMG 25206T =DSM 22217T =BCRC 17968T).