The influence of the pH of the mobile phase with some modifiers on the chromatographic behavior and fluorescence properties of closantel have been investigated. At acidic pH values (2-6), the benzamide moiety of the closantel forms a six-membered ring by hydrogen bonding and possesses a native fluorescence. Using the fluorescence emission of closantel at lambda(ex) = 335 nm, lambda(em) = 510 nm, and pH 2.5 of the mobile phase, a linear calibration curve was estimated over a concentration range of about two orders of magnitude with a correlation coefficient larger than 0.992. The limit of the fluorescence detection was 10 microg/kg. This value was at least 10 times lower than that using UV detection. The method was applied to the determination of closantel in plasma and tissue samples, purified by a solid-phase extraction with C18 cartridges.