The complete cDNA sequence of the tilapia extracellular Ca 2؉ -sensing receptor (CaR) was determined. The transcript length of tilapia CaR (tCaR) is 3.4 kbp and encodes a 940-amino acid, 7-transmembrane domain protein that is consistent in its structural features with known mammalian and piscine CaRs. The tCaR extracellular domain includes a characteristic hydrophobic segment, conserved cysteine residues that are implicated in receptor dimerization (Cys 129 and Cys 131 ) and in coupling to the transmembrane domain (nine conserved cysteine residues), and conserved serine residues (Ser 147 and The roles for ionic calcium (Ca 2ϩ ) in physiological functions are many and varied and essential for survival. Ca 2ϩ -dependent cellular processes include hormone secretion (stimulussecretion coupling), excitability and cell motility (excitationcontraction coupling), and neurotransmission (Ca 2ϩ -based action potentials). This critical involvement of Ca 2ϩ in these and other cellular functions is unique among ions. Ca 2ϩ is simultaneously a controlled variable in physiological systems, an extracellular messenger in multicellular organisms, and an intracellular mediator in a variety of effector cells.Unicellular organisms acquire Ca 2ϩ from the external environment; they have little control over the composition of the surrounding medium and thus had to evolve plasma membrane-bound and other cellular mechanisms to realize cellular Ca 2ϩ homeostasis eventually permitting some degree of habitat survival and selection. In multicellular organisms, active regulation by integumentary tissues of the composition of an "extracellular fluid," which bathes all cells, assures a constant internal milieu and contributes to normal Ca 2ϩ -dependent cell functions. In terrestrial vertebrates, Ca 2ϩ homeostasis depends upon appropriate dietary intake, renal output, and osseous storage and mobilization of Ca 2ϩ . These processes are well known and are regulated by parathyroid hormone, calcitonin, and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D acting on kidney, intestine, and bone. Activation of the Ca 2ϩ -sensing receptor (CaR) 1 by its natural ligand, extracellular Ca 2ϩ , alters parathyroid hormone and calcitonin secretion and inhibits renal 1-hydroxylase to retard the synthesis of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1, 2). Ca 2ϩ balance is achieved through regulated calciotropic hormone secretion in response to the extracellular Ca 2ϩ concentration ([Ca 2ϩ ] o ); the secreted hormones, in turn, control the activity of Ca 2ϩ -transporting tissues to bring about alterations in [Ca 2ϩ ] o . Interestingly, in fishes, the calcium homeostatic process involves ion-transporting tissues not represented in other vertebrate classes (viz., the mitochondria-rich "chloride cells" of the gills and skin) and a different panel of hormones (prolactin and somatolactin from the pituitary, and stanniocalcin from the piscine corpuscles of Stannius (3)). Opportunities for cutaneous