Dynamics of the Zebrafish Skeleton in Three Dimensions During Juvenile and Adult Development

Abstract

Zebrafish are a valuable model for normal vertebrate skeletogenesis and the study of myriad bone disorders. Bones grow, ossify and change shape throughout the zebrafish lifetime, and 3D technologies allow us to examine skeletogenic processes in detail through late developmental stages. To facilitate analysis of shape, orientation and tissue density of skeletal elements throughout ontogeny and adulthood, we generated a high-resolution skeletal reference dataset of wild-type zebrafish development. Using microCT technology, we produced 3D models of the skeletons of individuals ranging from 12 to 25 mm standard length (SL). We analyzed the dynamics of skeletal density and volume as they increase during juvenile and adult growth. Our resource allows anatomical comparisons between meristic units within an individual—e.g., we show that the vertebral canal width increases posteriorly along the spine. Further, structures may be compared between individuals at different body sizes: we highlight the shape changes that the lower jaw undergoes as fish mature from juvenile to adult. We show that even reproductively mature adult zebrafish (17–25 mm SL) continue to undergo substantial changes in skeletal morphology and composition with continued adult growth. We provide a segmented model of the adult skull and a series of interactive 3D PDFs at a range of key stages. These resources allow changes in the skeleton to be assessed quantitatively and qualitatively through late stages of development, and can serve as anatomical references for both research and education.

Micro‐CT analysis reveals the changes in bone mineral density in zebrafish craniofacial skeleton with age

“…Similar to the vertebrae, the zebrafish craniofacial bones did not show a clear decrease in BMD in the old fish. A recent zebrafish study has shown that skeleton density increases with age up to 24 mpf, and this density changes with the body axis, with the highest density observed in the craniofacial skeleton (Nguyen et al, 2022). However, this study did not investigate the detailed density distribution in the head.…”

Phylogenomic analysis of the Lake Kronotskoe species flock of Dolly Varden charr reveals genetic and developmental signatures of sympatric radiation

“…Thyroid ablation was visually confirmed at 5dpf. Quantification of maxilla position AMIRA (version 6.0.0) was used to visualize µCT scans of adult zebrafish skulls (Blythe, Nguyen et al 2022, Nguyen, Lanni et al 2022. A line was drawn intersecting the parasphenoid at its proximal-and distal-most points to approximate the long-axis of the body.…”

Significance of Premature Vertebral Mineralization in Zebrafish Models in Mechanistic and Pharmaceutical Research on Hereditary Multisystem Diseases

“…These include the facts that osteocytes are not present in all bones, that certain structures such as the skull show greater complexity compared to mammals, and that many different bone and cartilage types with different cellularity and matrix compositions exist in physiological conditions while often only occurring in diseases in vertebrates [30,31]. For a detailed review of the bone development in zebrafish, we would like to refer the reader to several excellent reviews [4,5,9,20,27,[31][32][33][34][35][36]. Here, we will focus on the development of the axial skeleton of teleosts.…”