Anthraquinone-2-sulfonate was immobilized on ceramsites (AQS-ceramsites) using a novel adsorption/covalence coupling method and their effects on the anaerobic bio-decolorization rates of azo dyes by salt-tolerant AQS-reducing (STAR) community were investigated. The results showed that AQS-ceramsites mediated specific bio-decolorization rates of four azo dyes Acid Yellow 36, Reactive Red 2, Acid Red 27 and Acid Orange 7 increase 2.3-6.4 fold than those lacking ceramsites in the presence of 50 g/L NaCl. Moreover, repeated experiments with AQS-ceramsites showed that the decolorization efficiencies of azo dyes could remain over 98% of their original value. These results indicated that AQS-ceramsites functioning as redox mediators exhibited good catalytic activity and stability under saline conditions. The dynamics of the STAR community structure revealed by PCR-DGGE also showed that the presence of AQS-ceramsites made STAR bacteria keeping predominant in the catalytic system. Therefore, it can be concluded that this novel solid redox mediator is potentially useful for the treatment of saline dye wastewater. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.