Meeting Abstract

P3.184  Monday, Jan. 6 15:30  Intraspecies variability in GABA-immunoreactive neurons in the central nervous system of Helix aspersa HODA, A.B.*; BALTZLEY, M.J.; Western Oregon University; Western Oregon University ahoda10@wou.edu

While the central nervous systems of closely related species are generally conserved, there are many examples of variability in the size, number, and location of homologous neurons. We examined the nervous system of Helix aspersa to investigate whether there is similar intraspecific variability between different populations of the same species. We used immunohistochemistry to identify GABA-immunoreactive cells in the H. aspersa central ganglia. Overall, our results are similar to previously published studies. We found 4 GABA-immunoreactive neurons in the buccal ganglia, as well as several clusters of GABA-immunoreactive neurons in the cerebral and pedal ganglia. We did not identify any GABA-immunoreactive neurons in the visceral, parietal or pleural ganglia. We are in the process of quantifying the number of neurons in each of the cell clusters found in the pedal and cerebral ganglia.