Octopamine in the developing nervous system of the pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis L

Development of the octopaminergic system in the pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, was investigated by means of immunocytochemistry and radioenzymatic assay. The earliest octopamine-immunoreactive neurons appear at a late embryonic stage (E85) of development following metamorphosis. At this moment of development, the adult-like pattern of distribution and projection (arborization) characteristics of octopamine-immunoreactive neurone can already be observed. During hatching and postembryonic (juvenile) development the number of labelled neurons increases only within the ventro-medial cell groups of the cerebral ganglia, whereas the extent of varicose axon arborization of the labelled neurons increases gradually. No peripheral projections of the embryonic and postembryonic octopamine-immunoreactive neurons were observed. The postembryonic increase in number of immunoreactive neurons and development of axonal arborization is accompanied by a rapid, exponential enhancement of octopamine content of Lymnaea CNS, as detected radioenzymatically. A possible role of the octopaminergic neurons in the regulation of certain physiological function(s), active only from a late stage of embryonic development, is suggested.