Zebrafish Larval Anatomy and Detection of Mutations in Lipid Homeostasis

(A) Zebrafish embryos and larvae subsist on yolk lipids for the first 4 d of life.

(B) By 7 d post-fertilization, only the surfactant-filled swim bladder (lavender) stains faintly with Oil Red O. The liver, pancreas (green), intestine, and heart are visible through the skin at this stage of development. The skeletal muscles (chevron-shaped somites) occupy the posterior of the animal.

(C) Mutations causing inappropriate lipid accumulation in the liver (upper), skeletal and cardiac muscles (middle), and vasculature (bottom) can be easily visualized.