Developmental analysis reveals labial and subradular ganglia and the primary framework of the nervous system in nudibranch gastropods.
Previous ultrastructural observations on late stage larvae of dorid nudibranchs (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia) revealed two pairs of ganglia within the base of the foot that do not have obvious counterparts in existing descriptions of other gastropod larvae [Chia and Koss (1989). Cell Tiss. Res. 256:17-26.] One of these ganglionic pairs has been implicated in the initiation of settlement preceding metamorphosis [Arkett et al. (1989). Biol. Bull. 176:155-160.] By examining neurogenesis in sequential larval stages, I have found that the pattern of connectives and commissures associated with these enigmatic ganglia is comparable to patterns found in less consolidated adult nervous systems of chitons, monoplacophorans, and archaeogastropods. These comparative data suggest that the two pairs of ganglia in dorid nudibranch larvae are homologues of labial and subradular ganglia. The labial ganglia become incorporated into the cerebral ganglia at metamorphosis. In an attempt to integrate anatomical and developmental observations with behavioral and neurophysiological results, I suggest that receptor cells of the larval labial ganglia may become postmetamorphic primary mechanoreceptors of the oral tube, which have central cell bodies within the "cerebral" ganglia and which help coordinate feeding. Results of this study also address a larger evolutionary issue by questioning the traditional model of an ancestral molluscan nervous system that consists of four longitudinal nerve cords that arise from separate sites along a circumesophageal nerve ring. This pattern results from secondary connections in nudibranchs and possibly other molluscs. The primary condition of a single axon bundle emerging from each cerebral ganglion is more similar to the developing nervous system in polychaete annelids than what has been recognized previously.
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Department of Biology, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017952:Ganglia, Invertebrate / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D007814:Larva; D008974:Mollusca / Q000502:physiology*; D009420:Nervous System / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development*; D009424:Nervous System Physiological Phenomena