Neuromuscular analysis of the chela-closer muscle associated with precopulatory clasping in male snow crabs, Chionoecetes opilio

Abstract

Male snow crabs, Chionoecetes opilio (Majidae), use their modified chelae to retain females for weeks before copulation. Consequently, adaptations for such sustained activity were examined in the chela-closer muscle responsible for clasping. Based on an allometric increase in the ratio of chela size to carapace width, male snow crabs were categorized as morphometrically mature or immature, the former displaying precopulatory clasping more readily than the latter. However, the two types were similar in terms of the properties of the chela-closer muscle, which was examined in this study. The motor pattern during clasping consisted of low-frequency firing of one of the excitor motoneurons, which gives rise to small synaptic potentials. The other excitor motoneuron, which produces large synaptic potentials, fired only when the female struggled during the embrace. The synaptic potentials of both axons showed little if any fatigue at these low firing frequencies. The neuromuscular terminals of these motoneurons displayed areas of synaptic contact larger than most found in other tonically active crustacean muscles. The majority of these synapses had an active site for transmitter release denoted by a dense bar, with many containing more than three dense bars. The closer muscle had typically slow features, with 10 or 11 thin filaments surrounding a thick filament, and sarcomere lengths of 9 – 10 μm. Overall, the closer muscle with its slow-fiber composition, tonic motoneurons, and neuromuscular synapses is well suited to sustained, low-level activity such as precopulatory clasping.