Development of Thyroid Follicles and Changes in Thyroid Hormones During the Early Development of Korean Rockfish Sebastes schlegeli

The development of thyroid follicles and the change of thyroid hormone concentrations in whole body were examined, and the relationship between thyroid follicle differentiation and growth were also studied during early development of Korean rockfish Sebastes schlegeli . Total length (TL) and body weight (BW) of larva at parturition were 6.3 ± 0.1 mm and 3.6 ± 0.1 mg respectively. The larvae transformed to juveniles from 20 to 30 d after parturition with continuous growth. The thyroid primordium of the rockfish was observed histologically in newly born larvae, suggesting that the thyroid primordium may have been formed during yolk-sac larval stage after hatching as with other marine telosts. In addition, although the Korean rockfish is a viviparous fish, the developmental features of the thyroid gland in number, size and shape are very similar to the general development features of marine oviparous fish. As the larvae grew, the thyroid follicles of Korean rockfish increased in number, became variable in size, and changed from the normal spheroid/ovoid shape to more irregular forms in shape after parturition, and then concentrated mostly along the areas immediately adjacent to the ventral aorta. In addition, thyroid cell height and thyroid hormone concentrations were related with physiological activity at a specific developmental stage.