Histogenesis of the goldfish retina

The order of production of retinal cells was studied in embryos of the goldfish, Carassius auratus, using 3H-thymidine autoradiography. Cell division ceases first in the neuroepithelium at the fundus of the eye between embryonic stages 19 and 20 and gradually becomes restricted to the retinal margin by stage 24. In the fundus the cells whose nuclei will reside in the inner layer of the retina stop dividing earlier than the cells whose nuclei will reside in the outer retinal layers. Thus the ganglion cells in the fundus of the retina are produced first and the receptors and horizontal cells last.