In fishes and aquatic-stage amphibians, mechanosensory neuromasts are arranged in characteristic lines in the skin of the head and trunk, with afferent innervation from anterior or posterior lateral l Show more
In fishes and aquatic-stage amphibians, mechanosensory neuromasts are arranged in characteristic lines in the skin of the head and trunk, with afferent innervation from anterior or posterior lateral line nerves. In electroreceptive non-teleost jawed fishes and amphibians, fields of electrosensory ampullary organs flank some or all of the cranial neuromast lines, innervated by the anterior lateral line nerve. Like the mechanosensory hair cells found in neuromasts and the inner ear, electroreceptor cells in ampullary organs across vertebrates form specialised ribbon synapses with afferent nerve terminals. Ribbon synapses in hair cells are distinct from other glutamatergic synapses, including the ribbon synapses in photoreceptors: In hair cells, synaptic vesicles are loaded with glutamate by vGlut3 and otoferlin is the Ca Show less