Stomatogastric nervous system
![The photo shows the stomatogastric ganglion (STG) of a Jonah crab (Cancer borealis), taken by Marie Suver (California Institute of Technology; with permission) during the Neural Systems & Behavior course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. The STG contains the somata of 26 neurons that belong to two central pattern generating neural circuits (gastric mill and pyloric circuit)](/Images/godic/202502/13/Stomatogastric_ganglion5637.jpg")
![This photo shows the pyloric dilator neuron, a pacemaker neuron in the STG that was stained via intracellular injection of a fluorescent dye. The inset shows a recording of the rhythmic oscillations of the PD membrane potential. The recordings were taken by Christopher Goldsmith and Carola Staedele in the lab of Wolfgang Stein at Illinois State University.](/Images/godic/202502/13/PD_neuron_staining_and_recording5637.png")
The Stomatogastric Nervous System (STNS) is a commonly studied neural network composed of several ganglia in arthropods that controls the motion of the gut and foregut. The network of neurons acts as a central pattern generator. It is a model system for motor pattern generation because of the small number of cells, which are comparatively large and can be reliably identified. The system is composed of the stomatogastric ganglion (STG), oesophageal ganglion and the paired commissural ganglia.