A Gram-staining-positive, coccoid, halotolerant bacterial strain, designated SV-16^T, was isolated from marine sediment and subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. The strain exhibited phenotypic properties that included chemotaxonomic characteristics consistent with its classification in the genus Salinicoccus. Growth occurred at temperatures in the range 25–37 °C (optimum 30 °C), at pH 7.0–11.0 (optimum pH 8.0) and at NaCl concentrations of up to 25.0 % (optimum 15.0 %). The highest level of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity was with Salinicoccus carnicancri Crm^T (98.6 %) followed by Salinicoccus halodurans W24^T (96.6 %). The predominant polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylglycerol. The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C_{15 : 0}, anteiso-C_{15 : 0}, iso-C_{17 : 0} and anteiso-C_{17 : 0}. The draft genome of strain SV-16^T consisted of 2 591 284 bp with a DNA G+C content of 48.7 mol%. On the basis of the phenotypic characteristics and genotypic distinctiveness of strain SV-16^T, it should be classified within a novel species of the genus Salinicoccus, for which the name Salinicoccus sediminis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SV-16^T ( = MTCC 11832^T = DSM 28797^T).