Cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons and other somatostatin-immunoreactive perikarya in brains of tadpoles of Xenopus laevis.

In untreated tadpoles of Xenopus laevis, stage 60 (Nieuwkoop and Faber 1956), somatostatin-immunoreactive perikarya and fiber networks are already discernible in the pallium and the septum, as well as in the anterior and posterior hypothalamus. In addition, somatostatin-immunoreactive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-contacting neurons were found in the periventricular gray of the most caudal division of the ventral tuber cinereum. The results are discussed with respect to the inhibitory influence of the system of CSF-contacting and other somatostatin-immunoreactive neurons on the anterior pituitary and other target sites, especially during the climax of metamorphosis.