Structural characteristics and distribution of satellite cells along crayfish muscle fibers

The distribution of satellite cells (sc) in long-sarcomere muscle fibers from the carpopod extensor muscle of the crayfish (Astacus fluviatilis) has been studied electron-microscopically. The sc are spindle-shaped and are oriented parallel to the long axis of a fiber. The mean lengths of sc nuclei (17.00 microns) and that of myonuclei (18.35 microns) differ non-significantly. In older animals, the mean ratio of the number of sc nuclei to the total number of nuclei (sc nuclei + myonuclei) is 0.0716, 0.0848, and 0.034 for the tendon, central and shell segments, respectively. The corresponding values for younger animals are 0.158, 0.166, and 0.081. The mean numbers of sc nuclei per mm of a fiber are 94, 117, and 47 (older animals), and 164, 117, and 94 (younger animals) for the tendon, central and shell segments, respectively. The high incidence of sc per unit fiber length in crayfish may be related to the fact that crayfish muscle fibers have a much larger diameter than vertebrate muscle cells.