A rapid and sensitive PCR-based method for the detection of the large yellow croaker iridovirus (LYCIV) is described, which involves the amplification of a 295 bp fragment of the LYCIV ATPase gene from DNA isolated from naturally infected fish spleen. Sequencing of LYCIV ATPase gene fragment showed it shared 100% nucleotide sequence homology with the corresponding region of the ATPase gene of red sea bream iridovirus (RSIV) and sea bass iridovirus (SBIV), suggesting that LYCIV was homologous with RSIV and SBIV at least in part of the gemone. The specificity and sensitivity of the PCR procedure were tested on the iridovirus-infected fishes, the expected fragment was detected from spleen DNA samples of infected fishes, whereas no fragments were amplified from healthy fish spleen DNA, white spot syndrome baculoviruses (WSBV) DNA and pseudorabies virus (PRV) DNA.Detection limit of this method was 10-7 ng positive plasmid DNA containing target sequence, equal to about 100 virions. In the infected experiment, first positive detection (1/4) appeared at Day 3 post-infection, all fish (4/4) tested positive at Day 7, however obvious symptoms were observed at Day 8, so LYCIV infection could be detected prior to the appearance of obvious symptoms. These results indicate that this PCR method could be used for early, rapid and specific detection of LYCIV infection.