In order to investigate whether tumor necrosis factor-associated factor 6 gene involved inantiviral immune response, the full-length cDNA of TRAF6 in Squaliobarbus curriculus was cloned by using RACE–PCRs method. The full-length cDNA of TRAF6 is 2 621 bp including a 5′–terminal untranslated region of 50 bp, a 3′–terminal untranslated region of 942 bp and an open reading frame of 1 629 bp encoding a polypeptide of 542 amino acid residues. The putative isoelectric point and molecular weight of TRAF6 was 6.01 and 61 670, respectively. The protein encoded by this gene includes one ring domain, two zinc fingers, one coiled-coil region, and one MATH domain. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the TRAF6 was the most homogeneous to Megalobrama amblycephala. The expression of TRAF6 could be detected in all the 12 tested tissues by RT–PCR, which the highest expressed in the liver and the lowest expressed in midgut. After injection with grass carp reovirus (GCRV), the TRAF6 expression level was up and down regulated in both spleen and head kidney, and reached the peak at 24 h, respectively. The results suggest that TRAF6 gene might play important roles in the immune response of Squaliobarbus curriculus against GCRV.