E. G. Fofanova, L. P. Nezlin, E. E. Voronezhskaya - Ciliary and nervous structures in juvenile females of the annelid Dinophilus gyrociliatus (O. Schmidt, 1848) (Annelida: Polychaeta)

BIOLOGIYA MORYA, 2014, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 46-56

Ciliary and nerve structures in juvenile females of the annelid Dinophilus gyrociliatus (O. Schmidt, 1848) (Annelida: Polychaeta)

Koltsov Institute of Developmental Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119334

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Ciliary and nerve structures were described in juvenile female Dinophilus gyrociliatus (O. Schmidt, 1848) after immunochemical staining with tubulin, serotonin, and FMRFamide antibodies. Anti-tubulin antibodies visualized the following external structures: two head and seven trunk ciliary bands, a ventral ciliary band, and head ciliary fields. Gut cilia and five pairs of protonephridia were detected inside the body. The nervous system consists of an oval head neuropile with anterior and posterior nerves extending from it, seven longitudinal nerve cords, commissures, and circular nerves. Anti-serotonin antibodies visualized the head neuropile, neurons at the base of the ventral ciliary band, an oesophageal ring, and seven longitudinal ventral cords. Anti-FMRFamide antibodies visualized about ten neurons in the cerebral ganglion, five longitudinal cords, and oesophageal and caudal nerve rings. The presented data suggest the simplification of the nervous system structure in D. gyrociliatus, which probably reflects pedomorphosis.

Key words: annelids, Dinophilus, tubulin, serotonin (5-HT), FMRFamide, nervous system.