We have cloned and sequenced members of a family of satellite DNAs from three genera of the tilapiine tribe of fishes: Oreochromis, Sarotherodon, and Tilapia. The satellite DNAs, visualized as intensely staining bands following electrophoretic separation of EcoRI-digested genomic DNA, consist of three size variants differentially distributed in the various tilapiine species. The sizes of the monomers are approximately 237 bp (type I), 230 bp (type II), and 209 bp (type III). Several cloned monomers were sequenced from Oreochromis niloticus (type III), Oreochromis placidus (types I and II), Sarotherodon galilaeus (type I), Tilapia zillii (type I), and Tilapia rendalli (type I). Comparison of derived consensus sequences for the monomer units of the satellite DNAs revealed sequence identities within and between species that ranged from 89 to 96%. The type II and type III size variants appear to have arisen by deletions of 9 and 29 bp, respectively, within different regions of the type I satellite. Hybridization of a cloned monomer satellite from O. niloticus (type III) to PalI digests of genomic DNA from all three genera detected polymorphic, high molecular weight restriction fragments that produced fingerprint-like patterns. The complexity of these DNA fingerprints varied from one species to another, suggesting a markedly different genomic organization for these polymorphic satellite DNAs.