Tube feet

Tube feet

Tube feet are the many small tubular projections found most famously on the ventral face of a starfish's arms, but are characteristic of the water vascular system of the echinoderm phylum which also includes sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers and many other sea creatures.

Tube feet function in locomotion and feeding. The tube feet in a sea star are arranged in grooves along the arms. They operate through hydraulic pressure. They are used to pass food to the ventral mouth at the center, and can attach to surfaces. A sea star that is overturned simply turns one arm over and attaches it to a solid surface, and levers itself the right way up.

Tube feet allow these different types of animals to stick to the ocean floor and move very slowly.

Tube feet consist of two parts: ampulla and podia. Ampulla contain both circular muscles and longitudinal muscle, whereas the podia contain the latter only. Thus the podia use suction to attach to the substratum.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • tube-feet — (ECHINODERMATA) Small, fluid filled tubes of the water vascular system functioning in locomotion, adhesion, food capture and transport to the mouth; some are sensory and may assist in respiration …   Dictionary of invertebrate zoology

  • tube foot — noun tentacular tubular process of most echinoderms (starfish and sea urchins and holothurians) having a sucker at the end and used for e.g. locomotion and respiration • Hypernyms: ↑foot, ↑invertebrate foot • Part Holonyms: ↑echinoderm * * * noun …   Useful english dictionary

  • Tube de l'ete — Tube de l été La dénomination tube de l’été est utilisée par les médias pour désigner, parmi les tubes de la saison estivale, celui qui a fait danser le plus les gens : c est un concept marketing. Il s agit le plus souvent de musiques… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Tube de l'été — La dénomination tube de l’été est un concept marketing utilisée par les médias. Il est désigné comme le titre qui s est le plus vendu durant la saison estivale ou celui qui a fait danser le plus grand nombre. Il s agit le plus souvent de musiques …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Pitot tube — A Pitot (pronEng|ˈpiːtoʊ) tube is a pressure measurement instrument used to measure fluid flow velocity. The Pitot tube was invented by Italian born French engineer Henri Pitot in the early 1700s, and was modified to its modern form in the mid… …   Wikipedia

  • Compressed hydrogen tube trailer — Hydrogen tube trailers are trailers that consist of 10 to 36 cluster high pressure hydrogen tanks varying in length from 20 feet for small tubes to 38 feet on jumbo tube trailers. They are part of the hydrogen highway[1] and usually precede a… …   Wikipedia

  • Moorgate tube crash — Date and time 28 February 1975 08:46 Location Moorgate Rail line Northern Line (Highbury Branch) (London Underground) …   Wikipedia

  • Transbay Tube — Infobox tunnel name = Transbay Tube caption = line = Rail color box|system=BART|line=RedRail color box|system=BART|line=GreenRail color box|system=BART|line=YellowRail color box|system=BART|line=Blue location = San Francisco Bay, California… …   Wikipedia

  • Giant tube worm — Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum …   Wikipedia

  • Boom tube — A boom tube is a slang expression for an extra dimensional point to point travel portal opened by a mother box used primarily by residents of New Genesis and Apokolips in DC Comics. The concept was created by Jack Kirby for his Fourth World… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”