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Characterization of the Brain of the Red Mayan Octopus (Octopus maya Voss and Solis, 1966)

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Abstract

Octopuses show a wide behavioral range that allows them great adaptability to their environment. This makes them a target of great interest for biophysics, cytology, and neurobiology studies. To adequately execute these investigations, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of the neuroanatomy of the species that function as good laboratory models, for example, O. maya. In this work, we undertake the task of extracting and characterizing various structures of the nervous system of O. maya at the level of lobes and connectivity between them. O. maya has great advantages as a research model for the neurobiology of cephalopods, such as being reproduced in captivity, having holobenthic larvae, an adequate size for analysis and performing its behavior out of hiding places and not burrowing. All this allows behavioral studies to be carried out more easily. In this study we have characterized the morphology of 30 lobes in the brain of O. maya from young and adult specimens and the cells that constitute the connectivity pathways between these regions. We also observed that the brains of O. maya at four weeks after hatching do not show a fully mature structure, but rather that some lobes related to somatosensory memory have low cell density and a simpler morphology than that of adult specimens. It is indicative of a maturation process that should be considered for future experimental designs. We hope that this nervous system mapping will increase the basis for more detailed investigations into the neurophysiology of O. maya and other octopuses.

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Funding

José Fabián Vergara-Ovalle would like to thank to the program Posgrade in Biological Sciences, (UNAM) the aquarium of the sciences school and “Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología” (CONACYT) for the fellowship granted. The research leading to these results has received funding from the projects PAPIIT IN 208722 and PAPIME PE300918 granted to HSC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuropsychopharmacology Laboratory, School of Psychology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico

    F. Vergara-Ovalle, A. Gonzalez-Navarrete & H. Sánchez-Castillo

  2. Research Unit of Psychobiology and Neurosciences (UIPyN), School of Psychology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico

    H. Sánchez-Castillo

Authors
  1. F. Vergara-Ovalle
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  2. A. Gonzalez-Navarrete
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  3. H. Sánchez-Castillo
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Vergara-Ovalle, Sánchez Castillo; Methodology: Vergara-Ovalle; Formal analysis and investigation: Vergara-Ovalle; Writing: Vergara-Ovalle; Writing: review and editing: Sánchez Castillo; Funding acquisition, resources, and supervision: Sánchez Castillo.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to H. Sánchez-Castillo.

Ethics declarations

Compliance with Ethical Standards

All the experiments and handling animals were carried out under the approval of the bioethics committee of the Faculty of Psychology, UNAM, and following the directive 2010/63/EU (European parliament) [30].

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1134/S0022093022050118.

Supplementary 1. Coronal cuts. The totality of sequential slides obtained from one of the brains of an adult specimen of O. maya is shown. Numbers indicate µm Posterior (P +) or Anterior (A –) from the midline of the brain. The lower side of each photograph corresponds to the ventral region, while the upper side of the photograph corresponds to the dorsal region. Bars represent 1000 µm. Cresyl violet staining.

10893_2022_8295_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Supplementary 2. Sagittal cuts. The totality of sequential slides obtained from one of the brains of an adult specimen of O. maya is shown. Numbers indicate µm to the left (L –) from the midline of the brain. The right side of each photograph corresponds to the ventral region, while the left side of the photograph corresponds to the dorsal region. Bars represent 1000 µm. Cresyl violet staining.

10893_2022_8295_MOESM2_ESM.pdf

Supplementary 3. Transversal cuts. The totality of sequential slides obtained from one of the brains of an adult specimen of O. maya is shown. The lower side of each photograph corresponds to the anterior region, while the upper side of the photograph corresponds to the posterior region. Numbers indicate µm vertical (V +) or Dorsal (D –) from the midline of the brain. Bars represent 1000 µm. H&E staining.

10893_2022_8295_MOEMS3_ESM.pdf

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Vergara-Ovalle, F., Gonzalez-Navarrete, A. & Sánchez-Castillo, H. Characterization of the Brain of the Red Mayan Octopus (Octopus maya Voss and Solis, 1966). J Evol Biochem Phys 58, 1401–1412 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0022093022050118

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0022093022050118

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