As a member of DEAD-box family, Vasa is considered to be one of the molecular markers of germ cells. In this study, full length of Vasa cDNA in discus fish (Symphysodon haraldi) was cloned and expression in different tissues was analyzed. The results showed that the full-length of cDNA was 2 370 bp, containing a 123 bp 5'-untranslated region, a 279 bp 3'-untranslated region and a 1 968 bp open reading frame, encoding 655 amino acids. Alignment analysis indicated that the amino acid sequence of Vasa gene in discus fish was most identical with tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). PCR analysis showed clearly that the Vasa gene was especially expressed in the gonads of mature fish, while it was not expressed in the other tissues. qRT-PCR analysis indicated that the Vasa gene was expressed from the whole embryonic developmental stages to the first 50-days juveniles. The Vasa gene expression increased continuously from fertilized eggs to blastula stage, then decreased from blastula stage to hatching. At larval stages, Vasa exhibited the lowest and highest expression on 25 dph (days post hatching) and 40 dph, respectively. By comparison, the expression in testis increased after reproduction which is contrast to the ovary. The findings in this study can provide information to study sexual differentiation, molecular markers and development of germ cell in discus fish.