Tentacle

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In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, elongated organ present in some

species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles
usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work
mainly like muscular hydrostats. Most forms of tentacles are used for grasping
and feeding. Many are sensory organs, variously receptive to touch, vision, or
to the smell or taste of particular foods or threats. Examples of such tentacles
are the "eye stalks" of various kinds of snails. Some kinds of tentacles have
both sensory and manipulatory functions.

A tentacle is similar to a cirrus, but a cirrus is an organ that usually lacks the
tentacle's strength, size, flexibility, or sensitivity. A nautilus has cirri, but a
squid has tentacles.

The word tentillum literally means "little tentacle". However, irrespective of

size, it usually refers to a side branch of a larger tentacle. In some cases such
tentilla are specialised for particular functions; for example, in the Cnidaria
tentilla usually bear cnidocytes,[1] whereas in the Ctenophora they usually have Cuttlefish with 2 tentacles and
collocytes.[2][3] 8 arms

Contents
1 Invertebrates
1.1 Molluscs
1.2 Cnidarians
1.3 Bryozoa
1.4 Trypanorhynch cestodes
2 Amphibians
3 Mammals
4 References
5 External links

Invertebrates
Molluscs

Many molluscs have tentacles of one form or another. The most

familiar are those of the pulmonate land snails, which usually have two
sets of tentacles on the head: when extended the upper pair have eyes at
their tips; the lower pair are chemoreceptors. Both pairs are fully
retractable muscular hydrostats, but they are not used for manipulation
or prey capture.

Some marine snails such as abalone and top snails, Trochidae, have
numerous small tentacles around the edge of the mantle. These are Front view of land snail showing upper
known as pallial tentacles.[4] and lower sets of tentacles
Among cephalopods, squid have spectacular
tentacles. They take the form of highly mobile
muscular hydrostats with various appendages such
as suction disks and sometimes thorny hooks. Up to
the early twentieth century "tentacles" were
interchangeably called "arms".[5] The modern
convention however, is to speak of appendages as
"tentacles" when they have relatively thin
"peduncles" or "stalks" with "clubs" at their tips. In Abalone showing pallial tentacles
contrast the convention refers to the relatively
shorter appendages as "arms". By this definition the
eight appendages of octopuses, though quite long, count as arms. In terms of this article however, both types of
organs count as tentacles because in relevant ways they are structurally and functionally similar.[4]

The tentacles of the giant squid and colossal squid have powerful suckers and pointed teeth at the ends. The
teeth of the giant squid resemble bottle caps and function like tiny hole saws, while the tentacles of the colossal
squid wield two long rows of swiveling, tri-pointed hooks.

Cnidarians

Cnidarians, such as jellyfish, sea anemones, Hydra and coral have numerous hair-like tentacles. Cnidarians
have huge numbers of cnidocytes on their tentacles. In medusoid form, the body floats on water so that the
tentacles hang down in a ring around the mouth. In polyp form, such as sea anemone and coral, the body is
below with the tentacles pointed upwards. Many species of the jellyfish-like ctenophores have two tentacles,
while some have none. Their tentacles have adhesive structures called colloblasts or lasso cells. The colloblasts
burst open when prey comes in contact with the tentacle, releasing sticky threads that secure the food.[6]

The tentacles of the Lion's mane jellyfish may be up to 120 feet (37 meters) long. They are hollow and are
arranged in 8 groups of between 70 and 150. The longer tentacles are equipped with cnidocytes whose venom
paralyses and kills prey. The smaller tentacles guide food into the mouth.[7][8]

Bryozoa

Bryozoa (moss animals) are tiny creatures with tentacles around their mouths. The tentacles are almost
cylindrical and have bands of cilia which create a water current towards the mouth. The animal extracts edible
material from the flow of water.[9]

Trypanorhynch cestodes

Trypanorhynch cestodes are parasitic in fish. Their scolex shows four tentacles which are covered by spines.
These tentacles help the adult cestode to attach to the intestine of the shark or ray that they parasitize. The same
tentacles are also present in the larvae.[10]

Amphibians
The legless amphibians called caecilians have two short tentacles, one on each side of the head, between their
eyes and nostrils. The current opinion is that these tentacles supplement the normal sense of smell, possibly for
navigation and to locate prey underground.[4]

Mammals
The star-nosed mole, Condylura cristata, of North America, has
22 short but conspicuous tentacles around its nose. They are
mobile and extremely sensitive, helping the animal to find its
way about the burrow and detect prey. They are about 14 mm
long and hold about 25,000 touch receptors called Eimer's
organs, perhaps giving this mole the most delicate sense of touch
among mammals.[4]

References
1. Marine Species Identification Portal : Zooplankton of the
South Atlantic Ocean : Glossary : tentilla (http://species-id
entification.org/species.php?species_group=zsao&selected
=definitie&menuentry=woordenlijst&record=tentilla).
A larva of
Species-identification.org. Retrieved on 2013-05-02.
trypanorhynch cestode
2. Harmer, Sir Sidney Frederic; Shipley, Arthur Everett et al.
(only two tentacles
(1906) The Cambridge natural history Volume 1, Detail of one tentacle
shown). Scale-bar: 0.1
Protozoa, Porifera, Coelenterata, Ctenophora, with its spines. Scale-
mm
Echinodermata. Macmillan Company. bar: 0.01 mm.
3. Mackie G.O.; Mills C.E.; Singla C.L. (1988). "Structure
and function of the prehensile tentilla of Euplokamis
(Ctenophora, Cydippida)" (http://faculty.washington.edu/cemills/EuplokamisTentacle1988.pdf) (PDF).
Zoomorphology. 107 (6): 319. doi:10.1007/BF00312216 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF00312216).
4. Boumis R (2013). "Animals With Tentacles" (http://animals.pawnation.com/animals-tentacles-
2495.html). Pawnation. AOL Inc. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
5. Cooke, A. H.; Shipley, Arthur Everett et alia: The Cambridge natural history Volume 34, Molluscs,
Trilobites, Brachiopods etc. Macmillan Company 1895
6. Bird J (5 June 2007). "CNIDARIANS: SIMPLE ANIMALS WITH A STING!" (http://www.oceanicrese
arch.org/education/wonders/cnidarian.html). oceanicresearch.org. Oceanic Research Group. Retrieved
2013-06-08.
7. Kosner AW (10 July 2012). "Lion's Mane Jellyfish Image: This Is (Literally) How Things Blow Up On
The Internet!" (https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2012/07/10/lions-mane-jellyfish-image-this-
is-literally-how-things-blow-up-on-the-internet/2/). Forbes. Forbes.com LLC. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
8. Wild Facts (29 November 2011). "Wild Fact #419 One Large Jelly Lions Mane Jellyfish" (http://ww
w.wild-facts.com/2011/wild-fact-419-one-large-jelly-lions-mane-jellyfish/). wild-facts.com. Retrieved
2013-06-08.
9. Claus N (May 2013). "Bryozoa (Ectoprocta: Moss Animals)" (http://www.els.net/WileyCDA/ElsArticl
e/refId-a0001613.html). els.net. eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
doi:10.1002/9780470015902.a0001613.pub2 (https://doi.org/10.1002%2F9780470015902.a0001613.pub
2). Retrieved 2013-06-08.
10. Beveridge, Ian; Bray, Rodney A.; Cribb, Thomas H.; Justine, Jean-Lou (2014). "Diversity of
trypanorhynch metacestodes in teleost fishes from coral reefs off eastern Australia and New Caledonia"
(http://www.parasite-
journal.org/articles/parasite/full_html/2014/01/parasite140092/parasite140092.html). Parasite. 21: 60.
ISSN 1776-1042 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1776-1042). PMC 4234045 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g
ov/pmc/articles/PMC4234045) . PMID 25402635 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25402635).
doi:10.1051/parasite/2014060 (https://doi.org/10.1051%2Fparasite%2F2014060).

External links
Media related to Tentacles at Wikimedia Commons

Tentacle- About.com
Encyclopdia Britannica
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