Random amplified polymorphic DNA(RAPD) technique was applied to study genetic relationships of Sparidae, including Sparus macrocephalus, Parargyrops edita, Pagrosomus major, Rhabdosargus sarba and Sparus latus. Under predetermined optimal reaction conditions,amplifications with 29 random primers selected from 60 primers gave 200 reproducible and stable bands ranging from 200 to 2500 bp. Each species had its own unique bands used for species identification. The molecular phylogenetic trees constructed by UPGMA and NJ methods of MEGA2.1 indicated S. macrocephalus and S. latus that belonged to Sparus were the most related, while S. macrocephalus and P. edita Tanaka were the least; R. sarba was more related with P. major and P. edita than S. macrocephalus and S. latus. Both results were accordant. And they agreed with classical taxonomy based on morphological and biochemical characters. In the matrix of genetic distance resulted from the 40 individuals, the maximal value was 0.8916, and most of them were between 0.50-0.85. The results showed RAPD could be efficient for exploring genetic relationships to some extent.