Megalobrama pellegrini, a cyprinid fish belonging to Cultrinae, lives only in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, mainly in Sichuan Province. Due to the loss of habitat after the completion of the Three Gorges Project and overfishing, it was forecasted that the population sizes of M. pellegrini might decrease sharply in the future. Surveys on its biology, reproductive ecology, artificial propagation, and ontogenesis have been done since 2001 to seek suitable countermeasures for conservation and resource-recovery of this endemic species. The present paper reports the results of observation on postembryonic development of M. pellegrini. Six batches of larva obtained by artificial fertilization and incubation were used in this study, and the ontogenesis process was observed repeatedly. Postembryonic development of M. pellegrini could be divided into two periods, namely larva and juvenile, including 16 stages. The newly-hatched larva was transparent, lying at the bottom quietly, with 43 pairs of muscle nodes and a mean of （4.78 ? 1.12） mm in total length. One-chamber air bladder occurred at 89.5 h after hatching, and the larvae began to feed. Larva older than 115.5 hours depended on exterior nutrition completely since yolk was exhausted. As the larva grew, pectoral fin, dorsal fin, caudal fin, anal fin, and ventral fin developed in sequence. Scales appeared in larvae of （ 19.75?3.71 ）mm in total length, when they were 47 days old. This declared the beginning of juvenile period. While the water temperature varied from 22. 2 to 25. 0 degrees centigrade, postembryonic development of M. pelleghrd, ending at the formation of scales, lasted for 68 days, when the young was （ 31.82 ? 3.87） mm in total length. Growth in length and body morphometrics varied during different developmental stages. The maximal growth rate appeared in hatching stage, and it seemed slower incoordinately in later stages. The proportion of post-anal length to total length increased gradually from 20.92% at the beginning, and it stabilized at about 45% finally. However, the ratio of body height to body length decreased, becoming nearer and nearer to the scale of adult in the young fish period. The ontogeny process of M. pellegrini was similar to that of other Cyprinidae fish, nevertheless some details in development such as the size of newly-hatched larva, the growth rate, and the size of air-bladders could be used to distinguish M. pellegrini from other Megalobrama species. Suggestion on the conservation and utilization of M. pellegrini species was discussed at the end of this paper.