Transcriptional response of the second isoform of glyceraldehyde (GAPDH-2) to infectious challenges using various bacterial species and the rockbream iridovirus (RBIV) was examined in the spleen of the barred knifejaw (Oplegnathus fasciatus). Bacterial challenges of the juvenile barred knifejaws with Escherichia coli, Edwardsiella tarda, Vibrio anguillarum and Streptococcus iniae resulted in the significant elevation of the GAPDH-2 transcripts in the spleen up to 12-fold relative to that in the non-challenged controls (PBS-injected). In addition, the barred knifejaw fingerlings injected with RBIV stock also represented the highly upregulated mRNA expression of the GAPDH-2 up to more than 20-fold when compared to that of control fingerings. Results obtained from this study strongly suggest that the GAPDH-2 is no longer a housekeeping glycolytic protein and rather than that it might be associated with immune-relevant cellular activities. From this finding, the traditional dogma for the use of GAPDH as an invariant standard for gene expression assays should be carefully revised depending on the kinds of biological stimulations applied in this species.