A chitinolytic bacterium, designated strain $SK16^T$, was isolated from a mud flat in Suncheon Bay, Republic of Korea. Strain $SK16^T$ is Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, motile by a polar flagellum, and short rod-shaped. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the strain belonged to the genus Chitinibacter and was most closely related to Chitinibacter tainanensis $S1^T$ (98.2% similarity). DNA-DNA hybridization analyses showed a low association value of $20.45{pm}4.08%$ between them. The major cellular fatty acids, the G+C content of the genomic DNA, and the predominant quinone of the strain were summed feature 3 (iso-$C_{15:0}$ 2-OH and/or $C_{16:1}$ ${omega}7c$; 50.5%) and $C_{12:0}$ (12.5%), 52.26 mol%, and Q-8, respectively. Based on the phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic, and phenotypic properties, strain $SK16^T$ represents a novel species of the genus Chitinibacter, for which the name Chitinibacter suncheonensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is $SK16^T$ (=KCTC $23839^T$ =DSM $25421^T$).