Distribution and temporal change of free calcium concentration [( Ca2+]i) in single guinea pig gastric chief cells were visualized by a digital imaging microscope equipped with a microspectrofluorometer. The distribution was not homogeneous; a higher [Ca2+]i area was often localized in some restricted regions of the endoplasm and also at the peripheral cytoplasm just beneath the plasma membrane. When stimulated with cholecystokinin, [Ca2+]i increased transiently in the apical peripheral cytoplasm and in the endoplasmic regions. This Ca2+ mobilization which precedes the biphasic pepsinogen secretion was composed of a rapid Ca2+ release from the intracellular store(s) as well as a rapid and a more sustained Ca2+ entry from the extracellular space.