The hedgehog (HH) signaling pathway plays an important role in embryonic development and adult tissue balance. To understand the function of the (sonic hedgehog) gene in gonadal differentiation and development, we cloned cDNA was 1922 bp, including a 1296-bp open reading frame (ORF), a 266-bp 5'-untranslated region (UTR) and a 360-bp 3'-UTR. The cDNA encoded a predicted protein of 431 amino acid residues. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the putative protein belonged to the HH family, with typical HH-N and HH-C domains. Amino acid sequence analysis revealed that proteins in other fish and 60%-70% with Shh were significantly lower in females than in males and neo-males. Real-time quantitative PCR showed that the relative expression of the gene was significantly higher in the blastula stage than in other embryonic developmental stages ( was expressed in eight organs in males and females, and at the critical period of female gonad differentiation (50 d), the relative expression of the gene sharply increased compared with earlier stages and was significantly higher than at the same period in the male gonads (<0.05). In male gonads, during the critical period of differentiation (80 to 95 d), the relative expression of the gene was significantly higher than in the female gonads. In 5-month, 8-month and 1-year-old gonads, the relative expression of the gene was significantly higher in females than in males and pseudo males. These results suggest that the gene is highly conserved in evolution and plays an important role in embryonic differentiation, tissue and organ formation, gonadal differentiation and the development of .