Vitellogenin was obtained from three year-old vitellogenic trout. Two procedures of isolation were compared: dialysis against distilled water and ultracentrifugation in the density interval 1.21-1.28 g/ml. Similar patterns were observed by gel filtration and electrophoresis for both preparations of vitellogenin, indicating that electric charge and molecular weight were not modified by either procedure. The apparent Mr of the native form was 560,000 in gel filtration, whereas that of the monomer was estimated as 170,000 by sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Minor proteins were also detected (100,000-88,000-78,000). The main components were protein (79%), and lipids (19%), Carbohydrates accounted for 0.3% when protein phosphorus and calcium each represented 0.7% of total weight. Phospholipids (70% of total lipids) mainly consisted of phosphatidylcholine in which n-3 docosahexanenoic acid accounted for one-third of total fatty acids. The results show the high levels of essential fatty acids in structural lipids which are known to be involved in embryo development.