A solid rod of neurectoderm derived from the neural keel. The neural rod is roughly circular in cross section. Neural rod formation occurs during primary neurulation in teleosts[GO]. An intermediate stage in the development of the central nervous system present during the segmentation period; the neural rod is roughly cylindrical in shape, forms from the neural keel, and is not yet hollowed out into the neural tube[ZFIN]. [ ZFA:0000133 http://amigo.geneontology.org/amigo/term/GO:0014024 ]