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A novel ovoid, phototrophic, purple non-sulfur bacterium was isolated in pure culture from a sample of sediment from an industrially polluted pond (Noor Mohammad Kunta) in Hyderabad, India. Strain JA234T was found to be Gram-negative and non-motile and grew photoheterotrophically with a number of organic compounds serving as carbon source/electron donor. Photo-organoheterotrophic and chemo-organoheterotrophic growth were demonstrated. Biotin and thiamine were required for growth of strain JA234T. Phylogenetic analysis on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain JA234T is most closely related to Rhodobacter azotoformans (97.3 % sequence similarity) and clusters with other species of the genus Rhodobacter of the family Rhodobacteraceae. However, DNA–DNA hybridization with Rba. azotoformans JCM 9340T showed a relatedness of only 31.3 % with respect to strain JA234T. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, DNA–DNA hybridization data and morphological and physiological characteristics, strain JA234T represents a novel species of the genus Rhodobacter, for which the name Rhodobacter ovatus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JA234T (=JCM 14779T=CCUG 55049T).