Note on the terminal nerve in chimaeroid fishes (Holocephali; Chimaeridae)
How to cite: Licht, M., & Bartsch, P. (2012). Note on the terminal nerve in chimaeroid fishes (Holocephali; Chimaeridae). Cybium, 36(4): 539-543. https://doi.org/10.26028/CYBIUM/2012-364-006
William Locy in 1905 on page 63 of his morphological and embryological account “On a newly recognized nerve connected to the fore-brain of selachians” mentions the “new nerve” or “supernumerary nerve” as it was termed before that time, tentatively traced upon dissection of the brain of Chimaera monstrosa. The terminal nerve as designated by Locy has never been mentioned for holocephalan fishes since, though new interest arose more recently with description of the terminal nerve in a variety of vertebrates ranging from cyclostomes to man. This study fills a gap in our anatomical knowledge and describes the nervus teminalis in juvenile spotted ratfish (Hydrolagus colliei) and rabbit fish (Chimaera monstrosa) on the basis of whole-stained and serially sectioned specimens.