The black seabream Acanthopagrus schlegelii is an important species for aquaculture in Korea. There are, however, no reports on the physiological responses to hypoxia in this species. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of acute hypoxia on the physiological stress responses (plasma cortisol as the primary response, and plasma glucose, hematocrit (Ht), hemoglobin (Hb), sodium, chloride, osmolality, AST, ALT and total protein as the secondary responses) of the fish. The experimental fish were exposed to 0.5 ppm dissolved oxygen (DO) in the seawater via two methods (progressive stepwise decline (Exp. I), and direct decline (Exp. II)). A highly significant increase was detected in plasma cortisol levels due to the hypoxia treatments, and fish in Exp. I had hormone levels that were significantly higher than the fish in Exp. II. For plasma glucose, there was no significant difference between the Exp. I fish and the control fish, whereas Exp. II fish showed significantly higher plasma glucose levels than Exp. I fish and control fish. Ht values increased in both hypoxia treatments; however, Hb concentrations increased only in Exp. I. Although plasma chloride levels were unaffected by acute hypoxia, plasma sodium and osmolality levels increased in Exp. I. Progressive hypoxia (Exp. I fish) increased plasma AST, ALT and total protein. These results suggest that the value and direction of changes to the investigated parameters can be used to determine the resistance of black seabream to acute hypoxia.