An aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, oxidase- and catalase-positive, non-motile, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped, pink-pigmented bacterium, designated strain R49(T), was isolated from soil. Flexirubin-type pigments were absent. Phylogenetic analysis based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that strain R49(T) formed a lineage within the family Cytophagaceae of the phylum Bacteroidetes that was distinct from the most closely related genera Dyadobacter (91.98-93.85 % sequence similarity), Persicitalea (88.69 %) and Runella (84.79-85.81 %). The major isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone-7 (MK-7) and the major polar lipid was phosphatidylethanolamine. The major cellular fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C-16 : 1 omega 7c and/or C-16 : 1 omega 7c), iSO-C-15 : 0, C-16 : 1 omega 5c, C-16 : 0 and iso-C-17 : 0 3-OH. The DNA G + C content of strain R49(T) was 53.9 mol%. On the basis of phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic analysis, strain R49(T) represents a novel species of a new genus in the family Cytophagaceae, for which the name Rhabdobacter roseus gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Rhabdobacter roseus is R49(T) (=KEMB 9005-318(T)=KACC 18395(T)=JCM 30685(T)).