Hormone Production within the Nervous System of a Crustacean

Abstract

FOR some years workers in crustacean endocrinology have suspected that the sinus gland is not the sole source of hormones in crustaceans. The nervous systems of Crago and other crustaceans have yielded extracts which, when injected, have concentrated or dispersed pigments within chromatophores^1,2. Some pigment movements have been shown to continue after removal of the sinus gland^3,4. The median faces of the tritocerebral connectives and the post-œsophageal commissure have been indicated as possible areas of hormone production, though without histological investigation^5,6. Recently, I had an opportunity of searching these areas for evidences of secretion in the prawn Penœus braziliensis.