A catecholaminergic neuron connecting the first two optic neuropiles (lamina ganglionaris and medulla externa) of the crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus

The crustacean optic neuropiles, the lamina ganglionaris and especially the medulla externa, show a specific pattern of green fluorescence with the fluorescence histochemical method of Falck-Hillarp. Normally, only the terminals and the cell bodies fluoresce, but in reserpine-treated animals exogenous catecholamines are taken up by the whole adrenergic neuron and are thus visualized as a whole. Incubating crayfish optic neuropiles in dopamine or α-methylnoradrenaline after reserpine treatment demonstrated a tangential neuron connecting the lamina and the medulla externa. The morphology of this tangential neuron differs from the two types of tangential neurons, Tan1 and Tan2, previously characterized with Golgi techniques. The catecholaminergic neuron thus constitutes a third tangential neuron type.