In Drosophila melanogaster the hnRNA binding protein Squid is required during oogenesis and early embryogenesis for the earliest patterning events in the embryo. In particular, specific isoforms of the Squid protein bind to and regulate the localization and translation of the gurken mRNA, which codes for a TGFa-like growth factor required for proper dorsal/ventral and anterior/posterior patterning of the egg and future embryo (Kelley, R., Genes & Dev 7:948, Norvell, A. et al., Genes & Dev 13:864). While the orientation of the dorsal/ventral versus anterior/posterior and left/right axes in invertebrate embryos is reversed relative to that of vertebrate embryos, at the molecular level there is clear conservation of many regulatory genes and paradigms. In fact, the expression of key genes required for dorsal/ventral patterning is exactly reversed in the two groups of embryos. In light of the tremendous conservation this demonstrates in the molecular regulation of bilateral symmetry across divergent taxonomic groups, we have analyzed a family of four genes in zebrafish that are the most closely related fish genes to fly squid, based on an NCBI BLAST search. In zebrafish, the mRNAs for all four fish genes (zsqdA-zsqdD) are maternally provided, suggesting that – like their fly counterpart – the fish proteins likely play a role in embryogenesis. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the mRNA for zsqdA (gene symbol: hnrnpaba), which shares the greatest sequence homology to fly squid, is translationally controlled via cytoplasmic polyadenylation at a particularly interesting stage during embryogenesis. This would result in the zsqdA protein being produced soon after the MBT and just before the formation of the earliest dorsal tissues (the shield). Finally, inhibition of zsdA translation via morpholino injection specifically disrupts early neurogenesis and the formation of axial structures such as the somites. Therefore, it appears that the zsdaA gene in zebrafish is not only homologous in sequence to Drosophila squid, but also in function.