An abstract with a mysteriously vague title–“Physiologic activity of nerve extracts”–was published in 1959 on pages 407 and 408 of volume 117 of The Biological Bulletin [1]. The authors of the abstract, A.B. Chaet and R.A. McConnaughy from the Department of Biology at The American University in Washington, DC, reported the observation that intracoelomic injection of an extract of radial nerve cords from the starfish Asterias forbesi triggers spawning in reproductively mature starfish. The active component was named gamete-shedding substance (GSS), and subsequently, Chaet and colleagues demonstrated that GSS is a polypeptide [2]. Thus, the 1959 abstract heralded the beginnings of research on neuropeptides in echinoderms.