This detailed volume contains embryo culture techniques that should inspire embryologists to consider comparative studies. The species included in this volume represent a broad range of taxa, whose embryos have vastly different culture requirements and developmental characteristics. Among the species described in this volume, significant differences exist in the rates of cell division, the timing of the maternal to embryonic transition, the relative lipid content of the cytoplasm, the sensitivity of the embryo to specific environmental ions, the preferred nutrients and associated metabolic pathways used by the embryo, the timing and mechanisms of early lineage specification, the presence or absence of embryonic diapause, and the time