Danio rerio (Hamilton, 1822)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a species of danionin belonging to the genus Danio in the suborder Cyprinoidei. Native to South Asia, it is a popular, hardy aquarium fish, frequently sold under the trade name zebra danio (thus often mislabeled as a "tropical fish", even though they also inhabit subtropical and temperate waters).
The zebrafish is extensively used as a vertebrate model organism in scientific research, particularly developmental biology, but also gene function, oncology, teratology, and drug development, in particular pre-clinical development, due to its scalability from high numbers of offspring and ease of drug delivery through water into the gills. It is also notable for its regenerative abilities, and has been modified by researchers to produce many transgenic strains.
Wikipedia contributors, Zebrafish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:29:31.990766+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Danio rerio (Hamilton, 1822)
- Name authority
- (Hamilton, 1822)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cypriniformes
- Family
- Cyprinidae
- Genus
- Danio
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCypriniformes
- familyCyprinidae Rafinesque, 1815
- subfamilyDanioninae Bleeker, 1863
- genusDanio Hamilton, 1822
- speciesDanio rerio (Hamilton, 1822)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Danio. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Danio albolineatus (Blyth, 1860) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Danio annulosus Kullander, Rahman, Norén & Mollah, 2015 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Danio assamila Kullander, 2015 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Danio catenatus Kullander, 2015 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Danio concatenatus Kullander, 2015 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Danio dangila (Hamilton, 1822) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Danio erythromicron (Annandale, 1918) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Danio flagrans Kullander, 2012 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Danio kerri Smith, 1931 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Danio margaritatus (Roberts, 2007) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Danio meghalayensis Sen & Dey, 1985 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Danio quagga Kullander, Liao & Fang, 2009 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Cyprinus chapalio Hamilton, 1822 Hamilton, 1822 | synonym |
| Cyprinus rerio Hamilton, 1822 Hamilton, 1822 | synonym |
| Danio lineatus Day, 1868 Day, 1868 | synonym |
| Barilius rerio (Hamilton, 1822) (Hamilton, 1822) | synonym |
| Danio frankei (Meinken, 1963) (Meinken, 1963) | synonym |
| Nuria rerio (Hamilton, 1822) (Hamilton, 1822) | synonym |
| Perilampus striatus McClelland, 1839 McClelland, 1839 | synonym |
| Brachydanio frankei Meinken, 1963 Meinken, 1963 | synonym |
| Brachydanio rerio (Hamilton, 1822) (Hamilton, 1822) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1026595 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3443J. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.