zebrafish

American  

[zee-bruh-fish, zeb-ruh-] / ˈzi brəˌfɪʃ, ˈzɛb rə- /

noun

plural

zebrafishes,

plural

zebrafish

1. a small, slender freshwater fish, Brachydanio rerio, having luminous bluish-black and silvery-gold horizontal stripes: popular in home aquariums.

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Etymology

Origin of zebrafish

First recorded in 1765–75; zebra + fish

Example Sentences

It works effectively in mice and zebrafish, supports recordings that last for hours, and does not require any external light source.

From Science Daily • Dec. 19, 2025

The model suggests that, even 67 million years ago, otophysan fish had nearly as sensitive hearing as zebrafish do today.

From Science Daily • Nov. 3, 2025

He sees consolation in zebrafish gathering around a distressed tankmate, for example, and generosity in lab rats choosing to forgo immediate treats to free a trapped colleague, sometimes sharing the food afterward.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 13, 2025

To confirm the efficacy of the drugs and explore their mechanism of action, the researchers have applied them to a rat model of the disease and, subsequently, to a zebrafish larval model.

From Science Daily • Oct. 12, 2025

To understand the contributions from circuit anatomy, Dr. Aksay and his collaborators looked to larval zebrafish.

From Science Daily • Nov. 22, 2024