Cultures of glial cells from optic nerve of two adult teleost fish: Astatotilapia burtoni and Danio rerio

•Glial cells from optic nerve of adult fish were isolated and characterized in vitro.•Most of the cells obtained in culture from optic nerve were expressing GFAP.•ON cells need an external stimulus to survive in vitro, different from those provided by the fetal serum.•We developed a research tool useful to study characteristics of optic nerve glial cells.