Fishes of the family Lutjanidae are commercially important in South China Sea. However,the phylogeny of Lutjanids is still unclear and there are many controversies over it. Herein, studies about the phylogeny of Lutjanids were performed based on Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) analysis of genome DNA and sequence analysis of mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene, and 10 Lutjanidae species and 1 Lethrinidae species were employed. The topologies of minimum evolution (ME) trees based on the two analyses respectively were congruent except for positions of genera Pristipomoides and Caesio. The optimal substitution model TrN + G for DNA sequences of 12S rRNA genes in Lutjanids was obtained using MODELTEST 3.6 software and maximum likelihood (ML) analysis supports the topology displayed by the ME tree. The test of log-likelihood suggests that the use of molecular clock calibrations to estimate species divergence time appeared valid. Phylogenetic analyses using AFLP data and DNA sequences of mitochondrial 12S rRNA genes indicated the monophyly of Lutjanus genra. However, further studies are required to reveal the phylogenetic relationship among other genera. In addition, the results demonstrated that AFLP genetic marker was suitable for the phylogenetic analysis of Lutjanids.
