Meeting Abstract
Serotonin is involved in many aspects of the behavior of gastropod molluscs, and the cell bodies of neurons that release serotonin have been anatomically mapped in the brains of many species. Most of the peripheral nerves of gastropods contain serotonergic axons, as do the pedal commissures, but the source neurons for those axons are known in only a few examples. The task of the current project is to backfill peripheral-projecting neurons with biocytin and to identify the serotonergic neurons within the backfilled population by whole-mount indirect immunocytochemistry using antibodies to serotonin. The experiments were carried out using isolated brains of the hooded nudibranch Melibe leonina, and backfills were made on the major cerebral, pedal, and tentacular nerves, plus the pedal commissures, leaving the other nerves for future studies. The results will be compared with what is known in other opisthobranch molluscs.
