You are on page 1of 5

on www.neuroscience-bucharest.blogspot.

com

Find more about:


- the giant axons
- the pacemaker system
- interneurons
- the rootlet system
- the nerve rings
- the small axon bundle

www.neuroscience-bucharest.blogspot.com
in the invertebrate NS category

The Jellyfish Nervous System

www.thalamus.ro
designed by

&
www.thalamus.ro
The Thalamus
neuroscience & medicine

www.mynorthshadow.blogspot.com
www.neuroscience-bucharest.blogspot.com
neuroscience blog
The nerve rings found in cnidarians can be considered one of the first attempts of
centralisation and an adaptation to the radial form . An interesting type of neurons
in Cnidarians are those with giant axons. Giant axons are distinguishable from
normal axons by their large diameter and relatively high speed of signal conduction.
This giant axons form the motor giants and the ring giants in many jellyfish spe-
cies. Regarding the circuitry, Aglantha has the most complicated nervous system.
Also it seems that neuroendocrinology has much to reveal in this animal group,
showing an unexpected complexity. Also, the giant axons in A. digitale can conduct
two types of action potentials: Ca2+ spikes and Na + spikes. Ca2+ spikes are gener-
ated during slow swimming, while Na + spikes are generated during the escape
behavior. Na+ spikes are generated by fast-rising excitatory postsynaptic potentials
(PSPs) representing input from the ring giant (RG) axon, while Ca2+ spikes arise from
slow PSPs representing input from the pacemaker (P) system. Also, Mackie and
Meech (1995) demonstrated the existence of two sets of interneurons, the relay and
carrier systems. They transfer information from the pacemaker neurons to the ten-
tacle action system during slow swimming. There is also a rootlet system which
was first described by Weber et al. (1982). Also there is a small axon bundle connect-
ing the margin and manubrium and it is a possible pathway that mediates the feed-
ing behaviour in some species. In A. digitale, between the margin and the manu-
brium, there is an E system . This E system - that lies in the immediate vicinity of the
endodermal radial canals - mediates lip flaring, while the F system lies in the ecto-
derm. The F system is overlying the radial canals and mediates pointing [1]. The
endodermal epithelium itself is an excitable tissue. In P. penicillatus, in the endoder-
mal epithelium the impulses are transmitted via gap junctions (King and Spencer,
1979). This may also be true in Aglantha.
A bundle of small axons runs up the subumbrella from the margin. They are placed
close to the motor giant axon . The small axon bundles follow the motor giant path,
then their course continue around the apex, head down the peduncle and enter the
manubrium . Axons in these bundles show FMRFamide-like immunoreactivity (FaIR).
Electron microscopy failed to show synapses between the axons in the small axon
bundle or between them and other cells. The canals of the jellyfish may be involved
in impulses transmission [2].
The ring giant lies in parallel with the much smaller axons (up to 6 fim) of the outer
nerve-ring and receives synaptic contacts from some of these. The ring giant axon is
covered, at the exterior, by a single layer (4-5 fim thick) of epithelial cells [3].
The second type of giant axon runs from the margin up the inside of the bell in the
myoepithelium. They parallel each of the eight radial digestive canals. The term
used to call this nerve tracts is motor giant axons . Each motor giant axon is accom-
panied by a number of smaller axons, some of which contribute to a nerve plexus in
the subumbrellar myoepithelium.
In jellyfish there are two nerve rings: the subumbrellar inner nerve ring and the
exumbrellar outer nerve ring. Both nerve rings are found at the junction of the swim-
ming bell and the velum, a narrow flap of muscular tissue.

2
neuroscience blog

motor giant
rootlet interneuron system

motor giant
exumbrellar
rootlet interneuron system
epithelial system

rootlet interneuron system

swimming
pacemakers
system

endodermal
system
relay system

the
relay system the relay system

Excitatory synaptic input

Inhibitory synaptic input

the
carrier system
the carrier system

ring giant axon

the system

the nitric oxide pathway


the nitric oxide pathway

the tentacle systems

tentacle nerves
neuroscience blog
http://www.neuroscience-bucharest.blogspot.com

1 , 2, G. O. Mackie, R. M. Marx and R. W. Meech , Central circuitry in the jellyfish Aglantha digitale IV. Path-
ways coordinating feeding behaviour, The Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 2487-2505
3, Richard A. Satterlie, Control of swimming in the hydrozoan jellyfish Aequorea victoria: subumbrellar
organization and local inhibition, The Journal of Experimental Biology 211, 3467-3477
--------------------------General bibliography--------------------
* Richard A. Satterlie, Control of swimming in the hydrozoan jellyfish Aequorea victoria: subumbrellar orga-
nization and local inhibition, The Journal of Experimental Biology 211, 3467-3477
* Richard A. Satterlie, Neuronal control of swimming in jellyfish: a comparative story, Can. J. Zool. Vol. 80,
2002
* G. O. Mackie, R. M. Marx1 and R. W. Meech, Central circuitry in the jellyfish Aglantha digitale IV. Pathways
coordinating feeding behaviour , The Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 2487-2505
* G. O. MACKIE, AND R. W. MEECH, CENTRAL CIRCUITRY IN THE JELLYFISH AGLANTHA DIGITALE
III. THE ROOTLET AND PACEMAKER SYSTEMS, The Journal of Experimental Biology 203, 1797–1807 (2000)

You might also like