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Figure 5 | BMC Neuroscience

Figure 5

From: The brain in three crustaceans from cavernous darkness

Figure 5

Morphology of the ventral nerve cord in Mictocaris halope . Acetylated α-tubulin immunoreactivity and nuclear counterstaining. A-G: Dorsal view on confocal laser-scans of horizontal vibratome sections (50 μm) labeled for acetylated α-tubulin immunoreactivity (green) and nuclear marker (blue). A: The tritocerebrum (III) is connected posteriorly to the subesophageal ganglion (SG) via the posttritocerebral connectives (PTC). The SG comprises the mandibular, maxillular, and maxillar neuromeres. B: Close-up of the maxillular neuromere. Two thick commissure-like neurite bundles (arrows) link the hemiganglia. C: The maxillular nerves project laterally into the appendage. The anterior nerve splits into several branches (arrows), whereas the more posterior nerve remains unbranched (arrowheads). D: The 2nd-8th thoracic ganglia (ThG2-8) are associated with two segmental nerves (SNv), which project laterally into the thoracic limbs (TL) (exemplarily shown for ThG4-5). Furthermore, an intersegmental nerve (IsNv) leaves the connectives laterally. Paired longitudinal lateral neurite bundles are visible parallel to the connectives (arrows). E: As in the thorax, an intersegmental nerve (IsNv) leaves each connective (Con) between pleonic ganglia (PlG) laterally and contributes neurites to the lateral longitudinal neurite bundle (arrows). The main branch of the IsNv projects further posterolaterally. One segmental nerve arises from each PlG. F: Five nerves (numbers 1-5) extend from the terminal ganglion (TG). Nerves 1 and 2 project in the lateral direction, whereas nerves 3 to 5 extend more posterolaterally. Two commissure-like neurite bundles connect both hemispheres of the TG (red and yellow arrows). The anterior commissure-like neurite bundle (red arrows) is associated with nerves 1 and 2, the posterior commissure-like neurite bundle (yellow arrows) with the nerves 3 and 4. An intersegmental nerve (IsNv) leaves the connectives anterior to the TG and splits into several fine branches innervating the periphery (white arrows). G: Nerve 4 extends into the uropods, where it splits into several branches. Scale bars: 100 μm.

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