Fig. 2

Masson stained slides showing the dense fibrous connections between the muscles and the vertebral canal membrane in sagittal. The dense fibrous (arrow) from the muscles tightly connected with the vertebral canal membrane (arrowhead) in Dicentrarchus labrax (A, A’), Scophthalmus maximus (B, B’), Takifugu rubripes (C, C’), and Danio rerio (D, D’). m: muscle; mc: myocommata; SC: spinal cord; en: epineurals; V: vertebra; arrowhead: the vertebral canal membrane; half ring: the MDB-like connections.