Tags: Anatomical Structure, Embryology.
Branchial arches or gill arches are a series of bony loops present in fish which support the gills. As gills are the primitive condition of vertebrates all vertebrate embryos develop pharyngeal arches though the eventual fate of these arches varies between taxa. In gnathostome fish the first arch develops into the jaws the second into the hyomandibular complex with the posterior arches supporting gills.