Tentacle: Difference between revisions

A '''tentacle''' or '''bothrium''' (plural: '''bothria''') is a big flabone of rubberusually two or somethingmore elongated flexible [[organ (anatomy)|organ]]s present in [[animal]]s, especially [[invertebrate]]s. The term may also refer to the hairs of the leaves of some [[carnivorous plant|insectivorous plants]]. Usually, tentacles are used for feeding, feeling and grasping. Anatomically, they work like other [[muscular hydrostat]]s. The word '''tentillum''' is a diminutive, but although it literally means "a little tentacle", it usually refers, irrespective of size, 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 [[cnidocyte]]s,<ref>[http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=zsao&selected=definitie&menuentry=woordenlijst&record=tentilla Marine Species Identification Portal : Zooplankton of the South Atlantic Ocean : Glossary : tentilla]. Species-identification.org. Retrieved on 2013-05-02.</ref> whereas in the [[Ctenophora]] they usually bear [[collocyte]]s.<ref name="CNH1">Harmer, Sir Sidney Frederic; Shipley, Arthur Everett et al. (1906) ''The Cambridge natural history Volume 1, Protozoa, Porifera, Coelenterata, Ctenophora, Echinodermata''. Macmillan Company.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Mackie G.O., Mills C.E., Singla C.L.|title= Structure and function of the prehensile tentilla of ''Euplokamis'' (Ctenophora, Cydippida)|doi=10.1007/BF00312216|url=http://faculty.washington.edu/cemills/EuplokamisTentacle1988.pdf|year=1988|journal=Zoomorphology|volume=107|issue=6|pages=319}}</ref>