Zebrafish (Daniorerio) is a tropical freshwater fishs,that belong to theCyprinidae family of the order Cypriniformes. They are translucent, with black stripes running along their length, they reach adult size which approximately 3 cm long, in about three month from their birth.
Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
The eggs are fertilized externally which makes them oviparous, and almost immediately the embryos become transparent and stay like that thought their life cycle, allowing for researchers to see their hearts and blood vessels grow easily. Embryos develop rapidly (in 2-4 days), with a beating heart and visible erythrocytes by 24 h. The heart begins to develop after just 12 hours, zebrafish have a prototypic heart with only one ventricle and one atrium
Stages of embryonic development of the zebrafish
The zebrafish is an important vertebrate model organism in scientific research. It is particularly notable for its regenerative abilities and has been modified by researchers to produce several transgenic strains.
Transgenic strains of the zebrafish
Another advantage of studying this fish is that, in contrast to others, which can be triploid or tetraploid (which makes genetic analysis dificult), it maintains the diploid state.
In addition, it can survive in larval stages without a functioning cardiovascular system because oxygen diffusion from the environment is sufficient to meet the early needs of the growing embryo and larvae. This feature allows the study of early cardiac maturation in the absence of proper cardiac function.