Scavenger receptors play a central role in defending against infectious diseases in mammals. However, the function of SRECII remains unknown in teleost fish. In this study, type F scavenger receptor expressed by endothelial cells-II (SRECII) cDNA sequence was first identified from Epinephelus coioides , named Ec SRECII, which contained an N-terminal signal peptide, eight EGF/EGF-like cysteine-rich motifs and a C-terminal low-complexity region. The gene location maps revealed that Ec SRECII has the conservation of synteny among selected species. Subcellular localization showed that Ec SRECII was mainly located in the cytoplasm in HEK293T cells and GS cells. In healthy E. coioides , Ec SRECII mRNA was highly expressed in spleen, skin, gill, thymus and head kidney. The relative Ec SRECII mRNA expression after Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection was significantly up-regulated at 12 h in spleen, head kidney and thymus, but downregulated at 1 d in skin and reduced at 3 d and 1 w in spleen. Furthermore, overexpression of Ec SRECII activated NF-κB and IFN-β signaling pathway in vitro. Taken together, these results indicated that Ec SRECII could be as the potential pathogen recognition receptor for involving in bacterial infection by regulating innate immunity responses in E. coioides. • Ec SRECII from E. coioides was first identified and characterized. • Ec SRECII might be involved in respective to V. parahaemolyticus infection. • The overexpression of Ec SRECII activated NF-κB or IFN-β signaling pathway in vitro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]