Zebrafish

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are small fresh water fish endemic to Indian rivers. Humans and these tiny fish share almost all physiological processes and most of the genome too! They are simple to maintain at home and in the lab. This makes them excellent models for human biology.  They are very happy breeders and the females lay hundreds of transparent eggs early in the morning as the sun comes up the horizon in shallow paddy fields. The males release sperm and the eggs are fertilized externally.  The embryo remains optically transparent for many days making them ideal for visualizing early events in development and for live imaging of cellular and even molecular events.