Abstract. The present study was conducted to clarify the difference in the color of the cytoplasm in immature follicular oocytes from prepubertal and adult minke whales. The four lipid contents (triglyceride, total cholesterol, phospholipids and non-esterified fatty acids) in vitrified immature oocytes from prepubertal and adult minke whales, and also in fresh and vitrified immature porcine oocytes, were measured. The lipid contents in vitrified-warmed minke whale oocytes were similarly high compared with those in vitrified-warmed porcine oocytes. In particular, the total cholesterol and phospholipid contents in the vitrified immature oocytes from prepubertal and adult minke whales were significantly (P<0.05) higher than those from prepubertal pigs. Furthermore, the distribution of lipid droplets in fresh and vitrified immature oocytes was observed in transmission electron microscopy. Lipid droplets in the prepubertal minke whale oocytes were distributed throughout the cytoplasm. In contrast, adult minke whales had larger lipid droplets which were distributed mainly in the central portion of the cytoplasm. The lipid droplets of immature oocytes from prepubertal pigs were larger than those in minke whale oocytes. These results indicated that the difference in the distribution of the cytoplasmic lipid droplets may result in the difference in the color tone of both prepubertal and adult whale oocyte cytoplasm. Key words: Minke whale, Porcine, Oocytes, Lipid, Sexual maturity (J. Reprod. Dev. 50: [525][526][527][528][529][530][531][532] 2004) e have been studying in vitro maturation (IVM), fertilization (IVF) and culture (IVC) in the artificial production of minke whale embryos [1][2][3][4]. During the studies, we observed a difference in the color of the cytoplasm in immature follicular oocytes from prepubertal and adult minke whales. The cytoplasm of the oocytes collected from prepubertal whales was opaque and dark, whereas the oocytes from adult whales had bright and transparent cytoplasm (Fig. 1). It was considered that the difference in the color of the two oocyte types was related to the lipid content in the cytoplasm. Lipids in the oocytes are mainly involved in energy storage, constitute the c y t o p l a s m i c m e m b r a n e a n d c y t o p l a s m i c organelles, and adjust the physiological function. Lipid analyses in oocytes or embryos have been conducted in domestic animals [5][6][7][8], and it was reported that porcine oocytes had a dark color tone of the cytoplasm as well as minke whale oocytes, and porcine oocytes had higher lipid content than the oocytes of other species [7].Follicular oocytes of many species are very