The distal leg motor neurons of slipper lobsters, Ibacus spp. (Decapoda, Scyllaridae) FaulkesZen 2018 This paper was originally published on the blog NeuroDojo. Please cite as: Faulkes Z. 2012. The distal leg motor neurons of slipper lobsters, <i>Ibacus</i> spp. (Decapoda, Scyllaridae). <i>NeuroDojo</i> (blog): <a href="http://neurodojo.blogspot.com/2012/09/Ibacus.html">http://neurodojo.blogspot.com/2012/09/Ibacus.html</a><br><br>For a discussion of why this paper was published on a blog, see: http://neurodojo.blogspot.com/2012/09/why-i-published-paper-on-my-blog.html<br><br><b>Abstract.</b> To test whether palinurans share a common ground plan of distal leg motor neurons with other decapod crustaceans, I examined the distal leg motor neurons in the scyllarid species <i>Ibacus peronii</i> and <i>Ibacus alticrenatus</i>. By backfilling the distal leg nerves individually, a total of about sixteen cells fill are seen, distributed in three clusters in the ganglia: an anterior cluster of about twelve, a posterior cluster of three, and a single medial cell. Although one medial cell fills when distal leg nerves are filled separately, two cells that are similar to two medial inhibitory cells in non-palinurans are visible in more proximal fills. The neural map is similar to those described for other species, suggesting that the distal leg motor neuron grand plan is conserved across reptantian decapod taxa. <br><br>