Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) is a pleiotropic cytokine with important roles in the regulation of cell proliferation, differentiation, survival, migration, activation and de-activation. It is one of the first cytokines released during an immune response and plays a strong immunomodulatory role in the activation and subsequent de-activation of macrophages and other immune cells. TGF-beta is a highly conserved molecule, and members of the TGF superfamily can be found in organisms as evolutionarily distant as arthropods. In this manuscript, we described the identification of a goldfish TGF-beta molecule, which was highly expressed in the skin, kidney and spleen of the goldfish and its expression was up-regulated in macrophages treated with LPS or recombinant goldfish TNF-alpha. Goldfish TGF-beta shared a high amino acid identity with, and was phylogenetically related to, TGF-beta1 of other teleost fish, birds, amphibians and mammals. Recombinant goldfish TGF-beta (rTGF-beta) induced the proliferation of a goldfish fibroblast cell line (CCL71) in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, rTGF-beta down-regulated the nitric oxide response of TNF-alpha-activated macrophages. This is the first report of teleost TGF-beta function in an ectothermic vertebrate.