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The egg envelope is a specialized extracellular matrix that surrounds and protects the oocyte and plays significant roles in animal reproductive and developmental processes. Using the NCBI digital differential display program we identified an EST sequence (XM_001340234.1) acquired from zebrafish ovary cDNA libraries in GeneBank. The full‐length cDNA of this transcript was obtained by 3′and 5′ RACE and further confirmed by PCR and sequencing. The full‐length cDNA of the novel gene is 2,720 bp and encodes a protein of 761 amino acids. RT‐PCR and Western blot analysis showed its expression in ovary and brain but not in other tissues. In situ hybridization demonstrates that the mRNA is transcribed in ooplasm of stage I, II, and III oocytes. Interestingly, immunohistochemistry on zebrafish ovarian sections showed that protein expression in the vitelline envelope was located to two thin positive lines in …