Abstract
The adipose fin is a structure with questionable function, for a long time even regarded as a rudimentary element without any function. A comparative study of adipose fin development revealed two different modes: a salmoniform-type where the adipose fin develops directly from the larval fin fold simultaneously with the other median fins. And a characiform-type where the adipose fin develops anew after the reduction of the larval fin fold. Compared to the first mode the latter starts late in ontogeny, when all other median fins already have their shape, fin rays and colouration. The characiform-type of adipose fin development contradicts the view that this structure is just a larval fin fold remainder. It also disputes the hypothesis of the adipose fin as a structure without any function. Such a hypothesis cannot explain a systematically widely distributed structure which even exhibits different modes of ontogenetic development in different taxa. (© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
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