Central Distributions of Primary Sensory Trigeminal Fibers in the Carp (Cyprinus carpio)

Teleostean trigeminal nerve somatosensory fibers consists of maxillar, ophthalmic, and mandibular branches. Nevertheless, it is still unclear about the central distribution of the trigeminal nerves. The projections of primary sensory trigeminal nerves were tested by the method of tract-tracing in the carp (Cyprinus carpio). Tracer was injected into trigeminal nerves’ root marked terminals in the tautomeral principal sensory trigeminal nucleus, medial funicular nucleus, descending trigeminal nucleus, medial part of posterior lateral valvular nucleus and facial lobe. The study revealed that the primary trigeminal sensory projection patterns of a cyprinid teleost, the carp are similar to those of other vertebrates such as mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. The results of our research also suggested that the presence of an organizational plan was common to vertebrates .