Summary
The main organs for salt and water homeostasis in the medicinal leech, the nephridia, were found to be densely innervated by a single branch of the corresponding median anterior segmental nerve.
The projections of two different neurons into the nephridia are described:
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1.
Dendritic projections of the previously identified, afferent ‘nephridial nerve cell’, a possible salt receptor, lie between the urine forming cells and the blood vessels supplying the nephridium without making any contact.
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2.
Projections of an unidentified neuron which contains dense-core vesicles (85 nm) as well as smaller clear vesicles (45 nm) contact the primary urine forming canaliculus cells. The neurosecretory role of these neurons is considered.
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Wenning, A., Cahill, M.A. Nephridial innervation in the leech Hirudo medicinalis L.. Cell Tissue Res. 245, 397–404 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00213947
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00213947