A Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, beige-pigmented, non-motile, rod-shaped bacterial strain designated N5DB13-4(T) was isolated from the red alga Gracilaria vermiculophylla (Rhodophyta) collected at Sodegaura Beach, Chiba, Japan. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the novel isolate is affiliated with the family Flavobacteriaceae within the phylum Bacteroidetes and that it showed highest sequence similarity (97.3 %) to Wenyingzhuangia heitensis H-MN17(T). The hybridization values for DNA-DNA relatedness between the strains N5DB13-4(T) and W. heitensis H-MN17(T) were 34.1 ± 3.5 %, which is below the threshold accepted for the phylogenetic definition of a novel prokaryotic species. The DNA G+C content of strain N5DB13-4(T) was determined to be 31.8 mol%; MK-6 was identified as the major menaquinone; and the presence of iso-C15:0, iso-C15:0 3-OH and iso-C17:0 3-OH as the major (>10 %) cellular fatty acids. A complex polar lipid profile was present consisting of phosphatidylethanolamine, two unidentified glycolipids and four unidentified lipids. From the distinct phylogenetic position and combination of genotypic and phenotypic characteristics, the strain is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Wenyingzhuangia for which the name Wenyingzhuangia gracilariae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of W. gracilariae sp. nov. is N5DB13-4(T) (=KCTC 42246 (T)=NBRC 110602(T)).