Evidence for a Common Pattern of Peptidergic Innervation of Cnidocytes

• Published in: The Biological bulletin (Lancaster) Vol. 207; no. 2; pp. 141 - 146
• Main Authors: Peter A. V. Anderson, Thompson, Louise F., Moneypenny, Craig G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Marine Biological Laboratory 01.10.2004; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Animal Structures - anatomy & histology; Animal Structures - innervation; Animals; Antibodies; Atlantic Ocean; Cellular immunity; Chemoreceptors; Cnidaria; Cnidaria - anatomy & histology; Cnidocytes; Cubozoa; Ectoderm; FMRFamide - metabolism; Hydrozoa; Immunoglobulins; Immunohistochemistry; Influence; Innervation; Lasers; Marine; Marine biology; Microscopy, Confocal; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Nematocysts; Nerve net; Nerve Net - cytology; Neurobiology and Behavior; Neurons; Neuropeptides; Neuropeptides - metabolism; Peptides; Physiological aspects; Plexus; Scyphozoa; Sensory neurons; Species Specificity; Stimuli (Psychology); Taxonomy; Atlantic Ocean; United States
• ISSN: 0006-3185; 1939-8697
• DOI: 10.2307/1543588

Tentacles from representatives of all four classes of the phylum Cnidaria were examined using antibodies against the neuropeptides FMRFamide and RFamide to reveal the organization of neurons and nerve nets associated with cnidocytes. The tentacles of all species examined contained FMRFamide- or RFamide-immunoreactive neurons, in varying densities. In representatives from the Scyphozoa, Hydrozoa, and Cubozoa, the FMRFamide-immunoreactive neurons formed plexuses at the base of the cnidocyte assemblages; in anthozoans, the absence of discrete assemblies of cnidocytes precluded visual co-localization of cnidocytes and immunoreactive neurons. In all four classes, immunoreactive sensory cells connected these peptidergic nerve nets to the surface of the tentacle. These findings suggest that members of all four cnidarian classes share a common organizational pattern, and it is proposed that this peptidergic innervation may be involved in the chemosensory regulation of cnidocyte discharge.