Journal
DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS
Volume 223, Issue 4, Pages 536-543Publisher
WILEY-LISS
DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.10062
Keywords
otic vesicle; macula; saccule; lagena; semicircular canals; membranous labyrinth; transverse canal; endolymphatic duct; Danio; pars inferior; otolith
Categories
Funding
- NIDCD NIH HHS [DC02756, F32 DC00413] Funding Source: Medline
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This report provides a description of the normal developing inner ear of the zebrafish, Danio rerio, with special focus on the pars inferior. Zebrafish specimens, ranging in age from 3 to 30 days postfertilization (dpf), were processed for standard histologic sections or with a paint-fill method to show three-dimensional morphogenesis of the membranous labyrinth. Adult zebrafish (age 2 years) were also processed for inner ear paint-fills. Although development of the semicircular canals occurs rapidly (by 3 dpf), the pars inferior develops more gradually during days 5-20 postfertilization. A rudimentary endolymphatic duct emerges by 8 dpf. Differentiated hair cells of the lagenar macula are evident by 15 dpf, in a chamber located lateral and posterior to the saccule. By 20 dpf, the saccule itself is separated from the utricle, but remains connected by means of the utriculosaccular foramen. The maculae neglectae, each with differentiated hair cells, lie on the floor of the utricle near this foramen. A medial connection between the sacculi of right and left ears, the transverse canal, is also complete by 20 dpf. A ridge of mesenchyme, previously undescribed, bisects the saccule in zebrafish fry at 20-30 dpf. The images in the paint-fill atlas should provide a baseline for future studies of mutant zebrafish ears. (C) 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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