Summary
An ocellus of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, has been serially sectioned for light and electron microscopy, its sensory cells have been indexed, and the interconnections of a third of these traced. The ocellus contains 155 retinula cells and 26 arhabdomeric cells, which are secondary sensory neurons. Of these, 55 retinula cells constitute 7 quasi-ommatidial assemblages, each innervated by at least one and a total of 9 arhabdomeric cells. When known electrotonic coupling patterns are compared with gap-junctional connections, retinula cells sensitive to visible or ultraviolet light can be tentatively identified. Retinula cell axons contribute collaterals to a synaptic plexus, in which the arhabdomeric cells apparently do not participate.
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This study constitutes Publication No. 776 from the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center, supported by Grants RR00163, RR5694, and EY00392 from the National Institutes of Health.
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Fahrenbach, W.H., Griffin, A.J. The morphology of the Limulus visual system. Cell Tissue Res. 159, 39–47 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00231993
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00231993