The color and pattern changing abilities of octopus, squid, and cuttlefish via chromatophore neuro-muscular organs are unparalleled. Cuttlefish and octopuses also have a unique muscular hydrostat system in their skin. When this system is expressed, dermal bumps called papillae disrupt body shape and imitate the fine texture of surrounding objects, yet the control system is unknown. Here we report for papillae: (1) the motoneurons and the neurotransmitters that control activation and relaxation, (2) a physiologically fast expression and retraction system, and (3) a complex of smooth and striated muscles that enables long-term expression of papillae through sustained tension in the absence of neural input. The neural circuits controlling acute shape-shifting skin papillae in cuttlefish show homology to the iridescence circuits in squids. The sustained tension in papillary muscles for long-term camouflage utilizes muscle heterogeneity and points toward the existence of a “catch-like” mechanism that would reduce the necessary energy expenditure.

Coleoid cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish, and octopus) internalized their shell more than 400 Mya (). Their soft bodies not only provided a unique set of opportunities related to motor control but also rendered them more susceptible to predation. Their solutions are unique in the animal kingdom. For example, their skin is covered with chromatophores, neurally innervated muscular organs of different colors (). The chromatophore motoneurons are located in the brain, and their activation allows the animal to quickly and dynamically change color and pattern (). In addition, squids have patches of skin cells called iridophores, each of which contains reflectin, a protein that shifts conformation to reflect light when the cells are exposed to acetylcholine (ACh) (), thus yielding bright specific hues across the visible spectrum, including short-wavelength colors, such as blue and green, which are not produced by the pigmented chromatophores (). Recently, the iridescence system was shown to be neurally controlled, but unlike those of the chromatophores, their motoneurons reside in the stellate ganglion (). Because most cephalopods have been shown to be color blind (e.g.,, but also see), it is currently thought that the highly polarized light reflected from activated iridophores is used as a signal for intraspecific communication (). However, the origin and purpose of this system still remain to be elucidated. Cuttlefish and octopus possess yet another exquisite adaptation; within their skin, muscle groups work in an antagonistic and agonistic manner, forming miniature muscular hydrostats. When activated, these muscles create dermal bumps called papillae ( Figures 1 A and 1B ). Individual papilla in the living cuttlefish can be fully expanded (or retracted) in less than 1 s (). Different levels of structural complexity lead to larger and more intricate papillary shapes, with each species having a fixed repertoire of papillae shapes (). This ability allows these benthic animals to be cryptic on substrates or masquerade as nearby objects, such as kelp, algae, or coral (), but the neural circuit and muscular anatomy that underlie it are unknown to date.

(C) The peripheral nervous system for mantle, skin, and fins; the pallial nerve (red) splits into the stellate connective (purple) and the fin nerve (green). The stellate connective travels into the stellate ganglion (orange), whereas the fin nerve projects directly to the fin. The most medial stellate nerves project out of the ganglion and rejoin the fin nerve via the fin connective (blue). Note that branching of the fin nerve, after the fin connective, happens close to the stellate ganglion as shown in D but has been separated in C for diagrammatic purposes.

Our denervation study points toward a catch-like system for maintenance of papillae form. We have also carried out electrophysiological experiments whereby we stimulated fascicles of dermal nerves (See Transparent Methods ), which demonstrated the presence of a fast system (<1 s) for papillae expression and retraction ( Figures S2 E and S2F, Movie S4 ). It is noteworthy that stimulating the papillae for longer than 30 s leaves them partially expressed for many minutes. This lingering expression is also similar to the bivalve catch muscle, where the sustained contraction (catch mode) can be elicited with DC stimulation (). The application of neuroactive substances is consistent with both the catch process of bivalves and non-catch muscle of cephalopods, and the microscopy results show that the cuttlefish skin is composed of several muscular layers, with both striated and smooth muscles.

The neurotransmitter/neuromodulator results were consistent with the substances expected to induce and release a catch-like state but do not provide a definitive answer because muscle structure is fundamental for catch. For example, mollusk catch muscles are smooth (). Although chromatophore muscles are sensitive to acetylcholine, FMRFamide, and serotonin, they are also striated and do not display a catch-like phenotype. In chromatophores, FMRFamide produces a slower expansion and retraction dynamic than L-glutamate and each transmitter acts independently (). It is known that cuttlefish have both striated and smooth-like muscles in their two tentacles, and the mix is thought to provide fast tentacle actuation but help maintain them coiled when not in use (). To elucidate if cuttlefish skin has a mix of smooth and striated muscles, we applied phalloidin, an f-actin label. After labeling, the different skin layers became clearly visible, which allowed us to separate them manually ( Figure 4 A) and inspect them with high detail with a two-photon microscope. As expected from previous reports, the phalloidin label showed oblique striations in the chromatophore muscles () as well as the papillary retractor and circular erector muscles () ( Figures 4 B and 4C). However, within the same optical slices (in sub-dermal layer a), we found that the internal volume of the papillae (referred to as papillae core) was made of smooth horizontal dermal muscles ( Figure 4 C). Although it is true that some striations may be difficult to see owing to muscle orientation, the lack of striations in horizontal dermal muscles crossing the papillae and their presence in the retractors/circular erectors were consistent in all the preparations that we imaged (n = 3). Similarly and consistently across preparations, we found that the muscles of the sub-dermal layer 1 are smooth, but those of sub-dermal layer 2 are striated ( Figures 4 D and 4E).

(C) Phalloidin labeling of the dermal muscular layer a shows a mix of obliquely striated (retractor and circular erector papillary muscles; red squares) and smooth (horizontal muscles of papillary core; cyan square) muscles. Arrows indicate striations on muscles.

(A) Skin overview. Cuttlefish skin is composed of several layers. Muscles are found in the muscular dermal layer and the two sub-dermal layers. Red labeling is phalloidin-DyLight554 stain. The pictures of the connective layer and basal membrane were taken with longer exposure to detect their structure from autofluorescence. All scale bars, 200 µm. *, papilla.

The results thus far pointed to FMRFamide, acetylcholine, and L-glutamate as the main papillae neurotransmitters. As serotonin (3-(2-aminoethyl)-1H-indol-5-ol; 5-HT) is known to release the catch in bivalves, we injected 5-HT in vivo to make sure that the papillae were being expressed naturally by the animal. Serotonin (1 mM, n = 4) suppressed excitation to the point where no papillary bump was visible near the site of injection, even when all other papillae around it were fully expressed ( Figures 3 F and 3G). The effect was clearly visible within 10 minutes of the injection, complete abolition continued for over 20 minutes, and papillary expression was still not completely recovered 7 hours later. As a control, we injected methysergide ((6aR,9R)-N-[(2S)-1-hydroxybutan-2-yl]-4,7-dimethyl-6,6a,8,9-tetrahydroindolo[4,3-fg]quinoline-9-carboxamide;(Z)-but-2-enedioic acid; undiluted and diluted 50%, 10%, and 1% of methysergide maleate salt, 28.29 mM; n = 13), a strong inhibitor of the 5-HT pathway. Methysergide injection left expressed papillae in a catch-like state, as they were left in the expressed position for over an hour, even when the rest of the animal was not expressing any papillae (10%; Figure 3 H; n = 3; 1%; Figure 3 I; n = 5). Although 5-HT also relaxes chromatophore muscles (), blocking 5-HT with methysergide at lower concentrations did not result in continuously expanded chromatophores (10%; Figure 3 J; n = 3) but maintained papillae expression.

We first tested compounds with known excitatory roles: L-glutamate ((2S)-2-aminopentanedioic acid), FMRFamide (H-Phe-Met-Arg-Phe-NH2), and acetylcholine (2-acetyloxyethyl(trimethyl)azanium). L-Glutamate produces fast chromatophore expansion in all tested cephalopod species (). As expected, L-glutamate caused chromatophore expansion (1 mM; n = 2), but it also elicited skin buckling and expression of small dorsal papillae (10 mM; n = 4; Figure 3 B). Thus, L-glutamate appears to be a generalized fast excitatory neurotransmitter in skin muscles, including papillae. In contrast to L-glutamate, FMRFamide affects only octopus and cuttlefish chromatophores, and the response is slower (). FMRFamide is known to elicit catch state in bivalve muscle (), and at a lower concentration, FMRFamide was sufficient to elicit strong chromatophore expansion, skin buckling, and expression of papillae (100 μM; n = 9; Figure 3 C); even 10 μM FMRFamide elicited a minor skin bunching response (n = 1; Table S1 ). Because acetylcholine can also induce catch in bivalve muscles, we also tested this compound. Just like FMRFamide, acetylcholine produced a slow but constant onset (several seconds) of chromatophore expansion, and the leucophore layer that sits at the tip of the small papillae took a spherical appearance (10 μM, n = 1; Figure 3 D). We refer to this phenomenon as “white caps” ( Figure 3 E). Although a higher concentration was necessary (100 μM), acetylcholine also induced skin bunching (n = 2; Table S1 ).

We selected the neurotransmitters/neuromodulators to be tested by their role in the catch state of bivalve muscles or on cephalopod chromatophore activation. They were diluted in seawater and injected locally and subcutaneously in the most basal layers of the skin. The injection site was easily recognized, as the injected fluid created a bolus that dissipated slowly. Control injections of sea water did not produce a response (ex vivo Figure 3 A; in vivo Figure S3 ). To determine the functional concentration, compounds were tested at various concentrations (see Table S1 ). The lowest concentration that produced a reproducible response is reported below.

(F) Major lateral mantle papillae shown 20 min after in vivo subcutaneous injection of serotonin (5-HT, 1 mM) with adjacent control papillae. Red circles here and below indicate injected papillae.

As a final control to the aforementioned set of experiments, we also severed the pallial nerve ( Figure 2 D; n = 2). As the pallial nerves carry all neural signals between the brain and the mantle and fins, we expected this cut to result in complete ipsilateral paralysis. As anticipated, in the first animal, (1) the fin became paralyzed and passively curled under the body, (2) the skin drooped, which shifted the skin's midline toward the paralyzed side, and (3) the chromatophores were instantly retracted, which produced the observed skin blanching leaving the cuttlebone visible ( Figure 2 Di; Movie S2 C). However, on the second animal, we found that after recovery from anesthesia, the papillae remained completely expressed for over an hour. This was true even for the large lateral multi-lobed papillae that require a significant level of coordinated motor control ( Figure 2 Dii, white arrows). To encourage the animal to relax the papillae and to test if other behaviors were unaffected, we placed this animal on different substrates. This treatment elicited the expected changes in chromatophore and papillae expression on the control side, but the denervated side remained pale with fully expressed papillae ( Figure 2 Diii-iv; see also Movie S1 C where a stellate connective cut left fully expressed papillae). Tetanic post-severing activation is very unlikely to be responsible for the observed phenotype for the following reasons: (1) Sepia skin functions as a muscular hydrostat. To maintain the normal papillae form observed, tetanic post-severing activation would have to result in a precise spatial and temporal pattern of muscle recruitment. (2) Tetanic post-severing activation would lead to indiscriminate activation of the axons in such connective (although our electrophysiological experiments demonstrate that such activation leads to skin bunching and papillae expression, the shape is not like that seen in alive animals, neither controls nor those with stuck papillae phenotype; Figures 1 2 A, and 2D; Movies S1 C and S2 A). (3) Tetanic post-severing activation would also affect other axons, but we have never seen chromatophores stay expanded after severing the pallial nerve. A feasible alternative is that at the time of the nerve dissection, papillary muscles were in a state that allows long-term maintenance of tone through slow relaxation, akin to that achieved by the smooth muscles of vertebrates through a “latch-bridge” mechanism () or the smooth muscles of bivalve mollusks through a “catch” mechanism (). Catch muscles have been well studied in bivalves (), a molluscan lineage, but have not been reported in cephalopods. Such catch-like ability may have evolved independently in cephalopods and may differ substantially from that of bivalves. Next, we investigated which neurotransmitters control papillae expression, as these may provide clues about their mechanism of action.

No effect of twitchin phosphorylation on the rate of myosin head detachment in molluscan catch muscle: are myosin heads involved in the catch state?.

The catch state of mollusc catch muscle is established during activation: experiments on skinned fibre preparations of the anterior byssus retractor muscle of Mytilus edulis L. using the myosin inhibitors orthovanadate and blebbistatin.

The above results confirm that the neural activity driving the mantle papillae is routed through the stellate ganglion. This situation is similar to the neural circuit for controlling squid iridescence. In squid, the motoneurons for iridescence originate in the stellate ganglion, then exit through a medial/posterior stellar nerve (named the fin iridescence nerve), and then join the fin nerve (). Upon de-sheathing, we found that cuttlefish also possess a neural connection between the stellate ganglion and the fin nerve, hereafter referred to as the fin connective ( Figures 1 C–1E). Severing the fin connective abolished the animal's ability to express papillae ipsilateral to the cut, but fin and chromatophore control remained intact ( Figure 1 I; n = 1; Movie S1 D). We also carried out the reverse experiment and stimulated with suction electrodes three of the nerves that make up the fin connective. This resulted in papillae expression and skin bunching in a topographic manner ( Figure 2 A; n = 2; Movie S2 A). During stimulation the skin also blanched because of chromatophore relaxation ( Movie S2 A); this may be a passive process resulting from skin bunching or an active process driven by inhibitory neurons. By loading a fin connective nerve with Lucifer yellow and by imaging the entire ganglia with a two-photon microscope, we found that the majority of the cell bodies are located in the medial-ventral wall of the stellate ganglion ( Figure 2 B; n = 3; Movie S2 B). Our anatomical and functional findings match those of the motoneurons that form the squid fin iridescence nerve (), including the presence of a minor number of cell bodies in the dorsal wall and a few fibers that continue and join the pallial nerve ( Figure 2 C). The implications of these findings with regard to the evolution of dynamic control of iridescence and 3-dimensional (D) skin texture are considered in the discussion.

(D) (i) Phenotype resulting from severing the pallial nerve under anesthesia when papillae were not being expressed. (ii) Phenotype resulting from severing the pallial nerve under anesthesia when papillae were expressed (example indicated by white arrow on lateral papillae). (iii and iv) Higher magnification view of papillae in a catch-like state (right) vs unexpressed pair (left) (indicated by black arrows). Results were all seen instantly after severing the nerve, and prolonged thereafter. See also Figure S2

(C) The cell bodies labeled by backfilling the squid fin connective (indicated by *) are found in a similar location (see first report in []).

(B) Images of backfilled S. officinalis fin connective nerve (indicated by *) showing three populations of neurons: (1) formed by the majority of the fibers labeled, with the cells bodies located in the ventral medial wall of the stellate ganglion; (2) a small number of cell bodies in the dorsal-medial wall; and (3) a small number of fibers that continue through into the pallial nerve. Dashed box indicates volume used for the maximum intensity projection image shown on the right.

(A) Effect of the electrical stimulation of two of the nerves forming the fin connective and diagrammatic representation of the areas that they innervate.

In addition to papillae, cuttlefish skin is covered in chromatophore organs comprising a cytoelastic sac of pigment expanded by a radial array of muscles. Both of these skin elements are visually driven () yet controlled by different circuits, as papillae and chromatophores can be activated independently ( Figures 1 A and 1B). The motoneurons that drive the chromatophore musculature originate in the brain lobes and descend through the pallial nerve (), which splits into the fin nerve and the stellate connective ( Figures 1 C–1E). The fin nerve provides an ideal substrate to test if the papillae motoneurons project parallel to the chromatophore motoneurons because (1) it is relatively easy to access in live anesthetized animals and (2) chromatophore motoneurons that target the posterior part of the mantle and the fins travel directly through the fin nerve (). Thus, we severed the fin nerve in vivo under anesthesia, and upon recovery we noted that the fin was paralyzed and chromatophore activity had ceased from the posterior mantle tip to the posterior bar, but papillae expression was not affected ( Figure 1 F; n = 2; Movie S1 A). In the control surgery, we cut the stellate connective, which yielded the inverse phenotype: chromatophores blanched from the anterior end to the location of the anterior bar, but papillae control was entirely lost ipsilateral to the cut ( Figure 1 G; n = 2; Movies S1 B and S1C). The same phenotype was obtained when all the outputs of the stellate ganglion were severed ( Figure 1 H; n = 1; Figure S1 ). We further confirmed the results by electrically stimulating the stumps of the fin nerve and the stellate connective in ex vivo skin preparations ( Figures S2 A–S2D; n = 2). Note that all procedures carried out in this study comply with institutional recommendations for cephalopods and follow the tenants outlined by the Animal Welfare Act.

Neural Control of Papillae Is Routed through the Stellate Ganglion and Exits through a Nerve Equivalent to the Squid Fin Iridescence Nerve

Discussion

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Hanlon R.T. Expression of squid iridescence depends on environmental luminance and peripheral ganglion control. Octopus and cuttlefish can neurally control the dynamic morphing of their skin from flat 2D (i.e., no visible bump) to physical 3D texture in different grades of expression. Individual papillae in the living cuttlefish can be fully expanded (or retracted) in less than 1 s (). This ability allows these benthic animals to be cryptic on substrates or masquerade as nearby objects, such as kelp, algae, or coral (). Each species has a fixed repertoire of papillae shapes, and the biomechanical mechanism of action is that of a muscular hydrostat (). Here we investigated the neural basis of controlling the different muscles in this unique “hydrostatic system” and found that (1) papillae signals targeting the mantle are routed through the stellate ganglion, (2) motoneurons that control the majority of the mantle papillae originate in the stellate ganglion and exit this peripheral relay center via the fin connective (made up of approximately five nerves) to re-join the fin nerve, and (3) this connective carries neural activity that also controls overall skin tension but not chromatophore excitation. By backfilling this connective, we showed three neuron populations. The majority of the fibers labeled formed population 1, with their cell bodies located in the ventral medial wall of the stellate ganglion. Population 2 consists of a small number of cell bodies in the dorsal-medial wall. Because the dorsal wall hosts sensory neurons, these are likely pressure receptors from the skin (e.g.,). Population 3 is made of a small number of fibers that continue through into the pallial nerve (also found in squid []). We argue that the papillary motoneurons are those of population 1 for the following reason: it is well known that if following animal death one does not remove the connective sheaths surrounding the ganglia quickly to expose the ganglion to oxygenated water, the synapses within it start to fail (), with the consequent lack of motor output even when the pallial nerve is strongly stimulated. This is known to be the case for the giant axon system and the iridescence system in squids (). We found this to also be the case with papillae: stimulation of the pallial nerve causes papillary expression straight after dissection but fails to do so shortly after (∼10 min), whereas chromatophore expression due to pallial nerve stimulation continues reliably for hours ( Figures S2 A–S2D).

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Hanlon R.T. Expression of squid iridescence depends on environmental luminance and peripheral ganglion control. Wardill et al., 2012 Wardill T.J.

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Hanlon R.T. Neural control of tuneable skin iridescence in squid. Hanlon, 1982 Hanlon R.T. The functional organization of chromatophores and iridescent cells in the body patterning of Loligo plei (Cephalopoda, Myopsida). Sutton et al., 2016 Sutton M.

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Gilbert I. A phylogeny of fossil and living neocoleoid cephalopods. Hence, the mantle papillae motoneurons in cuttlefish and the mantle iridescence motoneurons in squid appear to follow homologous pathways (see) and share a similar location for cell bodies in the stellate ganglion. In the mantle of the two species studied these systems are mutually exclusive; Sepia officinalis cuttlefish have papillary control without tunable iridescence (acetylcholine application or electrical stimulation has no observable effect on their iridescence; data not shown), whereas Doryteuthis pealeii squid have neurally tunable iridescence () but lack papillae (). Therefore, an evolutionary question arises. It is parsimonious to propose that the two systems diverged from a common ancestor that already possessed a peripheral nervous system for controlling skin tension. Alternatively, did cuttlefish gain skin texture control by hijacking an existing iridescence control circuit? This second explanation is also plausible because squids are thought to be the basal coleoid group (). This question could be answered by studying papillae versus iridescence control in key coleoid species. For now, the results presented here advance our knowledge about the control circuit for these two skin elements and provide a novel framework in which to investigate the neural circuitry and brain areas that control them.

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Messenger J.B. L-Glutamate and its ionotropic receptors in the nervous system of cephalopods. We also investigated the release mechanism for the catch-like state. In bivalves, once twitchin is phosphorylated by serotonin, the catch is released and relaxation occurs (). Our results are consistent as we showed that (1) 5-HT relaxes the papillae completely and (2) inhibiting 5-HT action through the injection of methysergide () resulted in papillae that remain expressed in the catch-like state for several hours, something not observed in chromatophores. Taken together, the evidence shows that the main neurotransmitters of the bivalve catch muscle also control papillae expression. The presence of a tension-sustaining mechanism in cuttlefish skin is supported by the f-actin labeling, which demonstrated that the papillary core and its sub-dermal base contain smooth muscles. However, a catch-like system composed of smooth muscle cannot be the only mechanism of papillae expression because (1) L-glutamate, the fast-action chromatophore excitatory neurotransmitter (), also has some effect on papillae expression and (2) papillary retractors and circular erectors are striated muscles. We propose that in cuttlefish these muscles are activated by L-glutamate, allowing the animal to immediately express and retract the papillae. Indeed, by stimulating fascicles of nerves that were within the basal layers of the skin, we were able to rapidly express and retract papillae (<1 s, Movie S4 ).

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Palumbo A. Nitric oxide mediates the glutamate-dependent pathway for neurotransmission in Sepia officinalis chromatophore organs. An interpretation of our results is that the striated muscles are ideally located to implement the fast expression/retraction (as previously proposed []), whereas the smooth muscles are ideally positioned to maintain the papillae shape (base and core), and are responsible for the catch-like phenotype observed. To determine if the catch mechanism of bivalves and the catch-like properties here observed in cuttlefish skin share a mechanism, future experiments could employ calcium imaging to investigate the Cadynamics during the catch-like state. To finally confirm if such smooth types are in nature the same as the classic catch of bivalves, it would be necessary to label them against the twitchin isoform containing the D1 domain that is specifically expressed in catch muscles (). However, it is possible that the catch-like phenotype observed here in a cephalopod is driven by mechanisms other than the D1 domain of twitchin. For example, even the twitchin from striated scallop muscles exhibits some level of “catchability” (defined as the ability to bind thick filaments tightly to thin filaments), and simply increasing its expression level could lead to catch (). In addition, smooth catch muscles also have a catch-specific isoform of myosin (). Moreover, cuttlefish may have evolved a novel mechanism to hold the tension for prolonged periods. For example, nitric oxide has been implicated in developing tension in chromatophore muscles with a much slower time course than glutamate on its own ().