Sensory nerve endings in the beak skin of Japanese quail

Summary This study is concerned with the distribution and ultrastructure of sensory nerve endings in the beak skin of adult Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). The following nerve endings were found: free nerve endings, clusters of dermal Merkel nerve endings, Herbst corpuscles and Ruffmi corpuscles. The latter were found only in the dermis of the tip of the upper beak. The remaining endings were present in the skin of all areas of upper and lower beak. Free nerve endings were supplied by either thin myelinated axons or unmyelinated C-fibers and were localized in the dermis close to the basal layer of the epidermis. Merkel cells formed clusters (up to 50) localized below and between the epidermal cones of the beak skin. Disc-shaped thickenings of nerve endings were squeezed between individual Merkel cells. Small Herbst corpuscles were found in the dermis close to the epidermal cones of the beak skin. Large Herbst corpuscles occurred in deep layers of the dermis. The Ruffmi corpuscles were cylindrical in shape (80 m × 400 m) and arranged in groups of up to ten corpuscles. Each corpuscle was surrounded by an incomplete fibrous capsule.