Mushroom bodies and reniform bodies coexisting in crabs cannot both be homologs of the insect mushroom body

Abstract

In one species of shore crab (Brachyura, Varunidae), a center that supports long-term visual habituation and that matches the reniform body's morphology has been claimed as a homolog of the insect mushroom body despite lacking traits that define it as such. The discovery in a related species of shore crab of a mushroom body possessing those defining traits renders that interpretation unsound. Two phenotypically distinct, coexisting centers cannot both be homologs of the insect mushroom body. The present commentary outlines the history of research leading to misidentification of the reniform body as a mushroom body. One conclusion is that if both centers support learning and memory, this would be viewed as a novel and fascinating attribute of the pancrustacean brain.

Keywords: divergence; homology; misidentification; mushroom body; phenotype; reniform body.