Ultrastructure of the corpuscular nerve ending in the lymph heart of the turtle (Pseudemys scripta elegans)

Corpuscular nerve endings were found in the tunica externa of the lymph heart of a turtle (Pseudemys scripta elegans). They consisted of axon terminals and surrounding cellular lamellae. Serial thin sections of one such presumable sensory corpuscle were made and reconstructed for the three-dimensional analysis of the corpuscle, with special reference to the axon terminals. It was revealed that axon terminals ramified at several points within the corpuscle and formed varicosities of various sizes ranging from 1.0 to 3.0 microns in diameter in their courses. Such varicosities contained an abundance of mitochondria as well as clear and granular vesicles 500 to 800 A in diameter. Finger-like protrusions often projected from the axon terminals into the interlamellar spaces. The lamellae consisted of several thin cytoplasmic processes of modified Schwann cells. The corpuscle was enclosed in an incomplete capsule consisting of a thin layer of cellular processes. The corpuscular nerve endings may represent pressoreceptors in the wall of the lymph heart.