Advancing biology through a deeper understanding of zebrafish ecology and evolution

Abstract

Over the last two decades, the zebrafish has joined the ranks of premier model organisms for biomedical research, with a full suite of tools and genomic resources. Yet we still know comparatively little about its natural history. Here I review what is known about the natural history of the zebrafish, where significant gaps in our knowledge remain, and how a fuller appreciation of this organism's ecology and behavior, population genetics, and phylogeny can inform a variety of research endeavors.

Keywords

• the natural history of model organism
• pigment pattern
• sex determination
• behavior
• population genetics
• phylogeny