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Crayfish escape behavior

I. The structure of efferent and afferent neurons involved in abdominal extension

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Summary

  1. 1.

    Cobalt staining was used to construct soma maps and study the cellular anatomy of efferent neurons involved in extension of the crayfish,Procambarus clarkii, abdomen.

  2. 2.

    Approximately 300 neurons are described in the ten ganglia from Thoracic 4 (T4) to Abdominal 5 (A5). In most hemiganglia, 17 neurons send processes out the 2nd abdominal root to innervate the extensor muscles and their associated muscle receptor organs (MROs) (Figs. 4, 10).

  3. 3.

    Thirteen of the neurons have axons in the 2nd root of their own ganglion. Five of these are hypothesized to correspond to the phasic extensor motoneurons and five to the tonic extensor motoneurons (Fig. 4); evidence suggests that two contralateral neurons are the peripheral inhibitors to the phasic and tonic muscles respectively. A very small contralateral neuron of unknown function is also seen.

  4. 4.

    Four of the neurons send their axons out the 2nd root of the next anterior ganglion and may be efferent control neurons of the MROs (Fig. 10).

  5. 5.

    Departures from serial homology occur as follows: the more rostral thoracic ganglia and A5 have fewer than 17 neurons, while T7 and T8 contain several cells not seen elsewhere (Figs. 13, 14).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Stanford University, 94305, Stanford, California, USA

    Jeffrey J. Wine & Grace Hagiwara

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  1. Jeffrey J. Wine
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  2. Grace Hagiwara
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Dedicated to Prof. C.A.G. Wiersma on the occasion of his 70th birthday

Supported by N.S.F. Grant BNS 75-17826. We thank D. Kennedy for the loan of equipment, D. Mistick for criticism, and Cecilia Bahlman for preparation of the manuscript.

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Wine, J.J., Hagiwara, G. Crayfish escape behavior. J. Comp. Physiol. 121, 145–172 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00609609

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