Development of the lateral plate mesoderm in medaka Oryzias latipes and Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus: insight into the diversification of pelvic fin position

The position of the pelvic fins among teleost fishes has tended to shift rostrally during evolution. This positional shift seems to have led to the diversification of feeding behavior and allowed adaptation to new environments. To understand the developmental basis of this shift in pelvic fin position among teleosts, we investigated the embryonic development of the lateral plate mesoderm, which gives rise to the pelvic fins, at histological levels in the medaka Oryzias latipes (abdominal pelvic fins) and Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (thoracic pelvic fins). Our histological analyses revealed that the lateral plate mesodermal cells expand not only ventrally but also rostrally to cover the yolk during embryogenesis of both medaka and Nile tilapia. In medaka, we also found that the lateral plate mesoderm completely covered the yolk prior to the initiation of the pelvic fin buds, whereas in Nile tilapia the pelvic fin buds appeared in the body wall from the lateral plate mesoderm at the thoracic level when the lateral plate mesodermal cells only covered one-third of the yolk. We discuss the relevance of such differences in the rate of the lateral plate mesoderm expansion on the yolk surface and the position of the pelvic fins.