Life through the lens
Introduction: Zebrafish
The zebrafish, Danio rerio, breeds year-round and produces hundreds of clear-shelled eggs with the developing embryo easily visible inside. The embryos develop from one cell to a swimming fish in about two days. The visibility and speed of zebrafish embryonic development allow scientists to observe the growth of organs in very young embryos.

»Find out more about Zebrafish
Video:
Image
controls
Zebrafish development
This film depicts zebrafish (Danio rerio) development from the single-cell stage to hatching.

Elapsed time about 48 hours.
Fertilized zebrafish eggs were mounted in fresh water between a slide and coverslip using a silicon rubber spacer. Images were taken at room temperature on an inverted compound microscope using a 10x DIC objective and digital camera.