Two bacterial strains, designated BBH5 and BBH7^T, were isolated from a deep-sea sediment sample collected from the Chagos Trench of the Indian Ocean (1 ° 06′ S 7 ° 31′ E). Based on their 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (99.9 %), level of DNA–DNA relatedness (93 %) and a number of similar phenotypic characteristics, the two strains are identified as representing the same species. Their phylogenetically nearest neighbours, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values (97.9–98.4 %), were identified as Brevibacterium iodinum, Brevibacterium epidermidis, Brevibacterium linens and Brevibacterium permense. However, strains BBH5 and BBH7^T could be distinguished from the above four species by a number of phenotypic characteristics, and levels of DNA–DNA relatedness between the two new isolates and these Brevibacterium species were 35–42 %. Therefore, strains BBH5 and BBH7^T are considered to represent a novel species of the genus Brevibacterium, for which the name Brevibacterium oceani sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is BBH7^T (=LMG 23457^T =IAM 15353^T).