The molecular basis of cone photoreceptor-specific gene expression is largely unknown. In this study, we define cis-acting DNA sequences that control the cell type-specific expression of the zebrafish UV cone pigment gene by transient expression of green fluorescent protein transgenes following their injection into zebrafish embryos. These experiments show that 4.8 kb of 5'-flanking sequences from the zebrafish UV pigment gene direct expression specifically to UV cones and that this activity requires both distal and proximal sequences. In addition, we demonstrate that a proximal region located between -215 and -110 bp (with respect to the initiator methionine codon) can function in the context of a zebrafish rhodopsin promotor to convert its specificity from rod-only expression to rod and UV cone expression. These experiments demonstrate the power of transient transgenesis in zebrafish to efficiently define cis-acting regulatory sequences in an intact vertebrate.