A moderately halophilic, Gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium was isolated from the roots of Blutaparon portulacoides, a plant found in sandy soil parallel to the beach line in Restinga de Jurubatiba, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The strain, designated $M9^T$, was motile and strictly aerobic with rod-shaped cells. It grew in the absence of NaCl and up to 20% NaCl, and was able to hydrolyze casein and starch. Strain $M9^T$ had a cell-wall peptidoglycan based on L-Orn-D-Asp, the predominant menaquinone present was menaquinone-7 (MK-7), diaminopimelic acid was not found, and anteiso-$C_{15:0}$ and iso-$C_{15:0}$ were the major fatty acids. A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain $M9^T$ belonged to the genus Halobacillus and exhibited 16S rRNA gene similarity levels of 97.8-99.4% with the type strains of the other nine Halobacillus species. The DNA-DNA relatedness of strain $M9^T$ with H. trueperi, the closest relative as regards 16S rRNA gene similarity, and H. locisalis was 21% and 18%, respectively. Therefore, on the basis of phenotypic, genotypic, and phylogenetic data, strain $M9^T$ (=ATCC BAA-$1217^T$, =CIP $108771^T$, =KCTC $3980^T$) should be placed in the genus Halobacillus as a member of a novel species, for which the name Halobacillus blutaparonensis sp. nov. is proposed.