Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 29, 2026

Eyestalk Ablation to Increase Ovarian Maturation in Mud Crabs
Published on: March 31, 2023
Presence of Octopamine and an Octopamine Receptor in Crassostrea virginica
Abstract:
Octopamine is a biogenic amine first identified in octopus. It has been well studied in arthropods and a few gastropods, serving as a neurotransmitter and hormone. The presence of octopamine has rarely been reported in bivalves and has not been reported in Crassostrea virginica. We utilized HPLC to identify and measure octopamine in cerebral ganglia, visceral ganglia, gill, palps, mantle, heart and hemolymph of C. virginica. Endogenous octopamine levels increased when animals were treated with tyramine, an octopamine precursor. A preliminary study in our lab found that octopamine has a cardio-excitatory action on C. virginica heart. In the present study we also used immunoblotting techniques to identify an octopamine-like receptor (Pan TAAR, trace amine-associated receptor) in oyster heart. The study confirms the presence of octopamine in the nervous system, innervated organs and hemolymph of C. virginica and identifies the presence of an octopamine-like receptor in heart, strengthening the contention that octopamine is important in the physiology of C. virginica as it is in other invertebrates.
More Related Videos
16:16Membrane Potentials, Synaptic Responses, Neuronal Circuitry, Neuromodulation and Muscle Histology Using the Crayfish: Student Laboratory Exercises
Published on: January 18, 2011
10:07Physiological Experimentation with the Crayfish Hindgut: A Student Laboratory Exercise
Published on: January 18, 2011
Related Concept Videos
Cholinergic Receptors: Muscarinic
The subtypes M1, M3, and M5 couple with the Gq subunit and activate the phospholipase C (PLC) activity, mobilizing intracellular Ca2+....
Adrenergic Receptors: ɑ Subtype
Adrenaline ≥ Noradrenaline >> Isoprenaline
α-adrenoceptors are further divided into α1 and α2-adrenoceptors.
α1-Adrenoceptors: These receptors are located postsynaptically on the effector organs and cause constriction of smooth muscle mediated by activation of phospholipase...
Cholinergic Receptors: Nicotinic
There are two types of nicotinic receptors: neuromuscular (NM/NM/N1) and neuronal (NN/NN/N2). The two families differ based on their location and selectivity to...
Channel Rhodopsins
Rhodopsins belong to the family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors,...
Osmoregulation in Fishes
Transducer Mechanism: G Protein–Coupled Receptors
GPCRs are also called heptahelical,...