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Neuroanatomy and morphological diversity of brain cells from adult crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus

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Abstract

As in vertebrates, brains play key roles in rhythmic regulation, neuronal maintenance, differentiation and function, and control of the release of hormones in arthropods. But the structure and functional domains of the brain are still not very clear in crustaceans. In the present study, we reveal the structural details of the brain in the redclaw crayfish using hematoxylin-eosin staining and microscopic examination, firstly. The brain of crayfish is consist of three main parts, namely, protocerebrum, deutocerebrum, and tritocerebrum, including some tracts and commissures, briefly. Secondly, at least 9 kinds of brain cells were identified on the basis of topology and cell shapes, as well as antibody labeling. We also provide morphological details of most cell types, which were previously un-described. In general, four types of glia and three types of neurosecretory cells were described except cluster 9/11 and cluster 10 cells. Glia were categorized into another three main kinds: (1) surface glia; (2) cortex glia; and (3) neuropile glia in addition to astrocytes identified by GFAP labelling. And neurosecretory cells were categorized into I, II and III types based on morphological observation. Finally, cluster 9/11 and 10 cells derived from the brain of crayfish, could be used for primary culture about 7–9 d under the optimized conditions. There results provide a resource for improving the knowledge of the still incompletely defined neuroendocrinology of this species. Using the crayfish as an animal model, we are easy to carry out further research in manipulating their endocrine system, exploring cellular and synaptic mechanisms so much as larval production on a small scale, such as in a cell or tissue.

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Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to Prof. LIU Haipeng for cell culture training. We would like to give sincere thanks to Dr. GAO Yi and Dr. WANG Quanchao who helped to take some pictures in the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Hu Duan  (段虎), Songjun Jin  (金松君), Fuhua Li  (李富花), Xiaojun Zhang  (张晓军) & Jianhai Xiang  (相建海)

  2. Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Fuhua Li  (李富花), Xiaojun Zhang  (张晓军) & Jianhai Xiang  (相建海)

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  1. Hu Duan  (段虎)
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  2. Songjun Jin  (金松君)
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  3. Fuhua Li  (李富花)
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  4. Xiaojun Zhang  (张晓军)
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  5. Jianhai Xiang  (相建海)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jianhai Xiang  (相建海).

Additional information

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41376165), the National Natural Science Foundation of China- Israel Science Foundation (NSFC-ISF) (No. 31461143007), and the Scientific and Technological Innovation Project financially supported by Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (No. 2015ASKJ02)

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Duan, H., Jin, S., Li, F. et al. Neuroanatomy and morphological diversity of brain cells from adult crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus. J. Ocean. Limnol. 36, 2368–2378 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-019-7145-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-019-7145-x

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