In mammals, the interleukin-17 receptor (IL-17R) family regulates inflammatory responses by mediating the signaling of the IL-17 cytokine family. Although IL-17 family genes have been identified in various fish species, there are limited studies on IL-17R genes. In this study, partial cDNA sequences of five Pf_IL-17R genes (Pf_IL-17RA to Pf_IL-17RE) were cloned from yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco), and sequence molecular characterization of the genes, tissue expression profiles, and changes in gene expression after stimulation with catfish Edwardsiella ictaluri and immunostimulants were investigated. The results showed that the open reading frames of the five Pf_IL-17R genes were 2430 bp (Pf_IL-17RA), 1590 bp (Pf_IL-17RB), 2106 bp (Pf_IL-17RC), 2235 bp (Pf_IL-17RD) and 2307 bp (Pf_IL-17RE) in order, encoding 809, 529, 701, 744 and 768 amino acids, respectively. Amino acid sequence analysis revealed that the five Pf_IL-17R genes of yellow catfish had relatively high sequence similarity to the homologs of other teleosts, respectively, with the highest sequence similarity to the homologs of channel catfish. Quantitative real-time PCR results indicated that the five Pf_IL-17R genes exhibited different mRNA expression patterns in healthy yellow catfish, and the high mRNA expressions of the five genes were mostly detected in the blood, gonad and gill. After challenge with Edwardsiella ictaluri, the mRNA expression levels of the five Pf_IL-17R genes were significantly up-regulated in the gill, skin and head kidney, whereas the expression levels of Pf_IL-17RB, Pf_IL-17RC, Pf_IL-17RD and Pf_IL-17RE mRNAs were notably down-regulated in the spleen. Moreover, the mRNA expressions of four Pf_IL-17R genes (with the exception of Pf_IL-17RC) were induced in isolated peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) of yellow catfish after stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (Poly I:C). The results of this study indicate that the five Pf_IL-17R genes may play vital roles in the immune responses to pathogenic infection in yellow catfish.