Halophilic archaeal strain YC25(T) was isolated from Yuncheng salt lake in Shanxi, China. Cells of strain YC25(T) were observed to be pleomorphic rods, stained Gram-negative, and formed red-pigmented colonies on solid media. Strain YC25(T) was found to be able to grow at 25-50 °C (optimum 37 °C), at 1.4-4.8 M NaCl (optimum 1.7 M), at 0-1.0 M MgCl2 (optimum 0.01 M), and at pH 5.5-9.0 (optimum pH 6.5). The cells lysed in distilled water, and the minimal NaCl concentration to prevent cell lysis was found to be 8 % (w/v). The major polar lipids of the strain were phosphatidylglycerol (PG), phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester (PGP-Me), phosphatidylglycerol sulfate (PGS), sulfated galactosyl mannosyl glucosyl diether (S-TGD-1), sulfated mannosyl glucosyl diether (S-DGD-1), galactosyl mannosyl glucosyl diether (TGD-1), mannosyl glucosyl diether (DGD-1), and an unknown diglycosyl diether (DGD-2) chromatographically identical to those of Halorussus rarus CGMCC 1.10122(T). The 16S rRNA gene and rpoB' gene of strain YC25(T) were phylogenetically related to the corresponding genes of Halorussus rarus CGMCC 1.10122(T) (94.3-95.4 and 91.5 % nucleotide identity, respectively). The DNA G+C content of strain YC25(T) was determined to be 63.3 mol%. The phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, and phylogenetic properties suggested that strain YC25(T) (=CGMCC 1.12122(T) = JCM 18363(T)) represents a new species of Halorussus, for which the name Halorussus ruber sp. nov. is proposed.