The muscles of the pectoral girdle in domestic animals attach the forelimbs to the trunk and function as the suspensory apparatus. In the present study the composition of the pectoral girdle musculature of sheep by myofiber types was examined. Myofibers showing a strong reaction for alkali-stable myosin ATPase were classified into fast-twitch/glycolytic (FG) myofibers with a weak activity for NADH tetrazolium reductase (NADH-TR) and fast-twitch/oxidative/glycolytic (FOG) myofibers with a moderate and strong NADH-TR activity. Myofibers showing a weak reaction for alkali-stable myosin ATPase and a strong activity for NADH-TR were classified as slow-twitch/oxidative (SO) myofibers. The SO myofibers that showed a granular and striped pattern of diformazan deposits in NADH-TR activity were classified as SO-1 myofibers, whereas the SO myofibers characterized by a reticular pattern of diformazan deposits were classified as SO-2 myofibers. The trapezius, rhomboideus cervicis, and pectoralis descendens muscles situated superficially in the cranial regions of the back and chest had about 50% SO (SO-1 plus SO-2) myofibers. The deeply situated serratus ventralis cervicis and thoracis muscles had 37.5% SO myofibers. These five muscles included more SO-2 myofibers with large diameters than did all other muscles, and had about 50% and more cross-sectional area of SO myofibers. The other muscles had less than 32% SO myofibers and fewer SO-2 myofibers. The FOG and FG myofibers accounted for 50% or less in the muscles examined. Many muscles of the pectoral girdle had many fast-twitch (FOG plus FG) myofibers; they seem to meet locomotory requirements. In the pectoral girdle musculature, the SO myofibers were not necessarily distributed more in the deep regions than in the superficial regions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)