The bacterial diversity of the continental shelf sediment in the Yellow Sea was investigated by the cloning and sequencing of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA genes. The majority of the cloned sequences were distinct phylotypes that were novel at the species level. The richness estimator indicated that the sediment sample might harbor up to 32 phylum-level taxa. A large number of low-abundance, phylum-level taxa accounted for most of the observed phylogenetic diversity at our study site, suggesting that these low-abundance taxa might play crucial roles in the shelf sediment ecosystem.