THE SCALE FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN JUVENILE OF SCHIZOTHORAX PRENANTI

Scale morphology, growth and the squamation chronology were described for the Schizothorax prenanti reared in the laboratory. The results showed that scale formation including onset and completion occurred at 30.732.3 mm and 45.347.9 mm body length (BL), and the appearance of scale is related to BL and age. The scale of juvenile of S. prenanti were formed at six locations: the lateral line near the posterior border of gill cover, the lateral line near the middle of caudal peduncle, the base of anal fin, the base of pelvic fin, the base of dorsal fin, and isthmus. Furthermore, our results revealed that the scale formation and development were divided into five stages: early morphogenesis, late morphogenesis, early differentiation, late differentiation and scale fold. These results suggest that understanding the pattern of scale formation may be useful in systematics, functional morphology and habitat use.