Increasing application of nanotechnology highlights the need to clarify and understand nanotoxicity. Mammalian and in vitro studies have raised concerns about the toxicity of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs), but there are limited data on ecotoxicity to aquatic organisms. In this work, the objective was to assess the sub-acute toxicity of TiO2 NPs to carp (Cyprinus carpio). Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) activities and lipid peroxidation (LPO) levels in liver, gill and brain tissues of carps varied with concentration of TiO2 NPs suspensions and exposure time (up to 8 d). As a result, 100 and 200 mg/L TiO2 NPs caused statistically significant decrease in SOD, CAT and POD activities and significant increase in LPO levels in tissues (P < 0.05), suggesting that the fish exposed to these two concentrations of TiO2 NPs suffered from the oxidative stress. The extent of depletion of antioxidant enzymes activities and the elevation of LPO in the liver was the greatest, indicating that the liver might be the most susceptible organ to TiO2 NPs exposure. In addition, carps had gill pathologies including edema and thickening of gill lamellae as well as gill filaments, and liver pathologies including necrotic and apoptosis hepatocytes after exposed to 100 and 200 mg/L TiO2 NPs for 20 d. These results indicate a potential risk from TiO2 NPs released into the aqueous environment.