Marine invertebrates offer powerful and often underutilized opportunities for uncovering fundamental principles of nervous system function. Their compact and accessible nervous systems, rich behavioral repertoires, and key evolutionary positions allow researchers to examine how neural circuits sense the environment, integrate information, and generate behavior with exceptional resolution. Advancing methods to investigate neuronal mechanisms in these organisms is therefore essential for identifying conserved circuit motifs, linking neural activity to behavior, and expanding neuroscience beyond a small set of traditional model systems.

This Methods Collection aims to bring together and standardize state-of-the-art approaches for studying neuronal mechanisms in marine invertebrates, including functional imaging, connectomics, and electrophysiology. By offering clear protocols, practical guidance, and methodological comparisons, it provides researchers with accessible entry points to adopt and adapt these tools across diverse species. The collection is designed to lower technical barriers, promote reproducibility, and stimulate cross-disciplinary collaboration. By equipping the community with robust and versatile methods, it will help accelerate the discovery of general principles of neural circuit organization and function across the animal kingdom.