A time series from 1 hour to 9 hours post-fertilization (hpf) was collected for RNA-seq by students of the MBL Embryology Course to understand the shifts in gene expression occuring in the early embryo of Mnemiopsis leidyi. Overall design: Multiple biological replicates were collected for timepoints 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 hpf.