In the development of vertebrates, the pharyngeal arches (which develop into the branchial arches or gill arches in fish) are primordia for a multitude of structures. In the human embryo (where the vasculature of the pharyngeal arches is also known as the aortic arches), they develop during the fourth week as a series of mesodermal outpouchings on both sides of the developing pharynx. In fish, the branchial arches support the gills.