Meeting Abstract
Animal behavior and ecology change with development, often with altered brain morphology and function. In arthropods, the central complex (CX) is a highly conserved region involved in sensory integration, action selection, and orientation. In insects, it consists of a protocerebral bridge (PB), a central body (CB) including the fan-shaped body (FB) and ellipsoid body (EB), and paired noduli (NO). The timing of CX formation varies among insect taxa, ranging from embryogenesis to gradual completion postembryonically, perhaps related to the development of sensory and motor abilities. Malacostracan crustacean CXs are generally simpler, with a v-shaped PB and a spindle-shaped CB. However, in members of the order Stomatopoda (mantis shrimps), the CX resembles that of insects. These marine arthropods possess complex vision and destructive predatory behaviors. They have well-developed, modular PBs and CBs and are the only crustaceans known with NO-like paired neuropils and an EB-like neuropil below the CB. Unlike adults, larvae are planktonic and could have reduced sensory and behavioral complexity. However, observations reveal a wider range of motor control, including prey capture behavior, than most larval crustaceans. Here, we compare the development of the CX in Neogonodactlyus oerstedii larvae to that in predatory insect larvae. Immunolabeling of early stage N. oerstedii larvae with antisera raised against RII (a regulatory subunit of PKA), serotonin, FMRFamide, and GAD (a precursor to GABA) reveals all subunits present in adult CX, including NO-like and EB-like neuropils. However, the v-shaped PB resembles that of other malacostracans. This is the first description of CX development in a crustacean – one with spectacular vision and behavior – and provides a basis for comparing CX neural development in two distantly related taxa with similar feeding ecologies.
