Microfilaments in the contracting cortex during the bipolar ooplasmic segregation of Ciona intestinalis eggs were examined by two methods, staining with fluorescent phalloidin and decoration with myosin subfragment 1 (S1). Fluorescent (Fl-)phalloidin revealed prominent fluorescence in the contracting cortex between the surface constriction and the vegetal pole of fertilized eggs. The animal pole did not stain. After extraction in Triton X-100, the cortex appeared as a thin layer that easily separated from cytoplasmic mass, especially at the contracting stage after fertilization. This layer also stained strongly with Fl-phalloidin. S1-decoration confirmed that actin filaments were abundant in the thin layer of Triton-extracted cortex. The actin filaments are considered to compose a contractile network covering the vegetal side of the constriction.