bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/772418; this version posted September 18, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. Atlas of the Neuromuscular System in the Trachymedusa Aglantha digitale: Insights from the advanced hydrozoan Tigran P. Norekian1,2,3, Leonid L. Moroz1, 4* 1Whitney Laboratory for Marine Biosciences, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, USA; 2Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington, Friday Harbor, WA, USA; 3Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117485, Russia; 4Departments of Neuroscience and McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA. Keywords: Cnidarians, Nervous System, Muscle System, Sensory Cells, Nematocysts, Nematostella, Evolution; Figures: 18 *Corresponding author: Dr. Leonid L. Moroz The Whitney Laboratory; University of Florida; 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd. St. Augustine, FL 32080, USA; Phone: +1-904-461-4006; Fax: +1-904-461-9052; email:
[email protected] Grant Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (grants 1146575, 1557923, 1548121 and 1645219). ABSTRACT Cnidaria is the sister taxon to bilaterian animals, and therefore, represents a key reference lineage to understand early origins and evolution of the neural systems. The hydromedusa Aglantha digitale is arguably the best electrophysiologically studied jellyfish because of its system of giant axons and unique fast swimming/escape behaviors. Here, using a combination of scanning electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry together with phalloidin labeling, we systematically characterize both neural and muscular systems in Aglantha, summarizing and expanding further the previous knowledge on the microscopic neuroanatomy of this crucial reference species.