Acetylcholine: possible neuromuscular transmitter in Crustacea.

The tonic flexor muscles of the crayfish abdomen respond with a large depolarizing potential to acetylcholine iontophoresed onto a neuromuscular Junction, but not to glutamate. Excitatory junctional potentials are abolished by d-tubocurarine and enhanced by a cholinesterase inhibitor. The membrane is depolarized and the junctional potentials are desensitized by excess acetylcholine. Thus acetylcholine is thought to be the neuromuscular transmitter.