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Journal of Experimental Biology 101,307-319 (1982)
Published by Company of Biologists 1982

The Morphology and Passive Electrical Properties of Claw Closer Neurones in Snapping Shrimp

JOHN A. WILSON ¹ and DEFOREST MELLON Jr ¹

¹ Department of Biology, Gilmer Hall, University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 22901

The morphology and passive electrical properties of the dimorphic pincer and snapper claw closer neurones were examined in the snapping shrimp, Alpheus heterochelis.

No differences were found between homologous pincer and snapper neurones for input resistance and length constant in the proximal portion of the axons, or for the proximal axonal and dendritic anatomies using intracellular cobalt staining.

To determine the effect of cell body size upon the passive electrical properties of the neurones, we modelled the neurones by computer. The difference in cell body size causes less than a 3% change in the electrical properties of the neurone at the axon root.

Thus, despite the striking behavioural dissimilarities between the pincer and snapper claws, there is no electrical or morphological basis in the claw closer neurones for this difference.