Over the past 440 years since the discovery of the medicinal value of swamp eels, much progress has been made in the study of their biology. The fish is emerging as an important model animal in sexual development, in addition to economic and pharmaceutical implications. Tracing genomic history that shapes speciation of the fish has led to discovery of the whole genome-wide chromosome fission/fusion events. Natural intersex differentiation is a compelling feature for sexual development research. Notably, identification of progenitors of germline stem cells that have bipotential to differentiate into either male or female germline stem cells provides new insight into sex reversal. Here, we review these advances that have propelled the field forwards and present unsolved issues that will guide future investigations to finally elucidate vertebrate sexual development using the new model.

自发现沼泽鳗的药用价值440年来，对其生物学的研究取得了长足的进步。除了经济和药学意义外，这种鱼正在成为性发育的重要模型动物。追踪影响鱼类物种形成的基因组历史导致了全基因组染色体裂变/融合事件的发现。自然双性分化是性发育研究的一个引人注目的特征。值得注意的是，鉴定具有双潜能分化为雄性或雌性生殖系干细胞的生殖系干细胞的祖细胞为性别逆转提供了新的见解。这里，