A slightly thermophilic, Gram-staining-negative and strictly aerobic bacteria, designated strain YIM 78141(T), was isolated from a sediment sample collected at Hehua hot spring, Tengchong, Yunnan province, south-west China. Cells of the strain were short-rod-shaped and colonies were yellowish and circular. The strain grew at pH 6.0-10.0 (optimum, pH 8.0-9.0) and 10-55 �XC (optimum, 40-50 �XC). Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison demonstrated that strain YIM 78141(T) belongs to the family Neisseriaceae, and strain YIM 78141(T) also showed low levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (below 93.4%) with all other genera in this family. The only quinone was ubiquinone 8 and the genomic DNA G+C content was 67.3 mol%. Major fatty acids (>5%) were C12:0, C16:0, C18:1�s7c and summed feature 3. The polar lipids consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylmethylethanolamine, phospholipids of unknown structure containing aminoglycophospholipid and three unidentified polar lipids. On the basis of the morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics as well as genotypic data, this strain should be classified as a representative of a novel genus and species of the family Neisseriaceae, for which the name Crenobacter luteus gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YIM 78141(T) (=BCRC 80650(T) =KCTC 32558(T) =DSM 27258(T)).