Fig. 3

Pigment pattern metamorphosis in wild-type and puma mutant zebrafish. Numbers indicate days postfertilization. (A) Wild-type zebrafish exhibit a gradual increase in melanophore numbers and a gradual emergence of the adult pattern of dark primary and secondary melanophore stripes with light interstripe regions. (B) From embryonic to early larval stages (≤13 dpf), puma mutants exhibit pigment patterns indistinguishable from wild-type. Subsequently, however, puma mutants have fewer melanophores than wild-type fish during pigment pattern metamorphosis and juvenile development. Although some additional melanophores are present on the flank during middle stages of pigment pattern metamorphosis (e.g., 22 dpf), these are much less numerous than in wild-type larvae at corresponding stages. Finally, during terminal stages of pigment pattern metamorphosis and juvenile development (e.g., ≥27 dpf), more melanophores are present, and an irregular striped pattern forms that is nevertheless patchier than in wild-type fish. Scale bar, 500 μm.