Fig. 1. Adult pigment pattern in mutants lacking one pigment cell type. (A,D) The wild-type pattern consists of four or five alternating stripes of blue melanophores and yellow xanthophores. (B,E) fms mutants lack all xanthophores and melanophores occur in clusters as well as scattered in between. (C,F) nac mutants lack melanophores and xanthophores form a coherent longitudinal domain (arrowhead in C) as well as clusters more ventrally (arrows in C). Large areas are devoid of xanthophores (black outline in F). Ontogeny of the pigment pattern in wild type (G,H), fms (I) and nac (J) during larva-to-adult transition. Images were taken from individual fish in corresponding regions of the body with the anterior edge of the image coinciding with the anterior edge of the dorsal fin. The first number given indicates the size in millimetres and the second the age in days. (G) In wild type (9 mm/23 d), melanophores initially appear scattered in the flank, with some persisting in the horizontal myoseptum from larval stages (arrowhead). Subsequently (11 mm/27 d), melanophores start to aggregate and to converge towards the horizontal myoseptum. Concomitantly, xanthophores appear (11 mm/27 d, arrowhead). (H) Xanthophores are (13.5 mm/25 d) seen in a stripe around the horizontal myoseptum and later (15 mm/27 d) start appearing in more ventral regions (arrowhead), initiating a second xanthophore stripe. (I) In fms (10 mm/24 d), melanophores appear differentiating throughout the flank, similar to wild type. At later stages (14.5 mm/30 d) melanophores start aggregating but fail to be cleared from ventral areas and around the horizontal myoseptum. (J) In nac mutants (10 mm/24 d) xanthophores appear in the same position as in wild type (compare with Fig. 2B). Later (13 mm/28 d), the xanthophores have only slightly increased in number.

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