Fast, easy and early (larval) identification of transparent mutant zebrafish using standard fluorescence microscopy [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]

Abstract

The availability of transparent zebrafish mutants (either TraNac: trab6/b6; nacw2/w2 or casper: roya9/a9; nacw2/w2) for live imaging studies together with the ease of generating transgenic lines are two of the strengths of the zebrafish model organism. The fact that transparent casper (roya9/a9;nacw2/w2) and silver nacre (nacw2/w2) mutants are indistinguishable by eye at early stages (1-5 days post-fertilization; dpf) means many fish must be raised and later culled if they are not transparent. To identify translucent mutants early and easily at the early larval stage (≤5 dpf) before they are classified as protected animals, we developed a simple screening method using standard fluorescence microscopy. We estimate that this procedure could annually save 60,000 animals worldwide.