The Dogfish Neuromuscular Junction: Dual Innervation of Vertebrate Striated Muscle Fibres?

Abstract

In the myotomal muscles of the dogfish, Scyliorhinu canicula, there are 2 major types of fibre. The red fibres at the periphery of the myotome receive a distributed en grappe pattern of innervation. There are subjunctional folds at these endings, and the nerve terminals contain vesicles around 50 nm in diameter. In contrast to this, the white twitch fibres of the myotome are innervated focally, by 2 nerve fibres passing to the same motor end-plate. These 2 fibres contain vesicles of different types. One type of nerve terminal contains vesicles around 50 nm in diameter; these terminals resemble those upon the red fibres. The other contains vesicles up to 100 nm in diameter, frequently possessing a dense core. It is suggested that the white twitch fibres of dogfish are innervated by 2 separate axons, possibly containing different transmitter substances.