A Gram-negative, motile, rod-shaped organism, strain AP13(T), able to produce yellow-pigmented colonies, was isolated from the drinking water distribution system of Seville (Spain) and was characterized by using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. In 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons, strain AP13(T) exhibited 96.9-95.6 % similarity with respect to the five recognized species of the genus Massilia. The DNA G+C content of strain AP13(T) was 66.0 mol%, a value that supports the affiliation of strain AP13(T) to the genus Massilia. DNA-DNA hybridization data and phenotypic properties confirmed that strain AP13(T) represents a novel species of the genus Massilia, for which the name Massilia aurea sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is AP13(T) (=CECT 7142(T)=CCM 7363(T)=DSM 18055(T)=JCM 13879(T)).