Morphology of salp chain communication

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Abstract
The blastozooid individuals of a salp chain are linked by attachment plaques of a particular kind. Two plaques link one zooid to another; at each plaque the outer epithelium of one zooid closely approaches that of its neighbour, and the two are separated by some 5 $\mu $m of test material. The plaques between the zooids are asymmetrical, for sensory cells are found in the outer epithelium only at one side at one plaque, and at the other side in the second plaque the two neighbouring zooids share. These sensory cells bear cilia that expand after emerging from the apex of the cell, and give off many tubule-containing processes. The processes terminate in `synapse-like' junctions on a small region of the outer epithelium of the neighbouring zooid. It is suggested that the system represents an epithelioneural pathway for transmission of the electrical events between zooids discussed in the following paper. Presumed chemical synapses of opposite sense occur in a restricted zone encircling the brain; such neuroepithelial synapses resemble those found at neuromuscular junctions.

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