Two chitin-degrading halophilic archaeal strains, MC-74(T) and MC-23, were isolated from commercial salt samples. Cells were motile, rod-shaped and stained Gram-negative. Colonies were vermillion-pigmented. Strains MC-74(T) and MC-23 were able to grow with 1.5-5.1 M NaCl (optimum, 2.6-3.1 M) at pH 6.0-10.0 (optimum, pH 7.0) and at 20-50 degrees C (optimum, 40 degrees C). The orthologous 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between the two strains was 99.8 %, and the closest phylogenetic relative was Salinarchaeum laminariae JCM 17267(T) with 99.3-99.5% similarity. The level of DNA-DNA relatedness between the two strains was 93 and 94% (reciprocally), and those between the two strains and Salinarchaeum laminariae JCM 17267(T) were 35-36% and 38-39% (reciprocally). The polar lipids of both strains were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester and phosphatidylglycerol sulfate. Glycolipids were not detected. Based on the phenotypic and phylogenetic analyses, the strains represent a novel species of the genus Salinarchaeum, for which the name Salinarchaeum chitinilyticum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MC-74(T) (=JCM 19597(T) =KCTC 4262(T)), isolated from solar salt produced in France. Strain MC-23, isolated from a commercial solar salt sample produced in China, is an additional strain of the species.