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Tentacle

 

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Tentacle



 
 
Cuttlefish
Tentacles can refer to the elongated flexible organs that are present in some animals, especially invertebrate
Invertebrate

An invertebrate is an animal lacking a vertebral column. The group includes 98% of all animal species ? all animals except those in the Chordate subphylum vertebrate ....
s, and sometimes to the hairs of the leaves of some insectivorous plants
Carnivorous plant

Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods....
. Usually, they are used for feeding, feeling and grasping. Anatomically, they work like other muscular hydrostat
Muscular hydrostat

A muscular hydrostat is a biological structure found in animals. It is used to manipulate items or to move its host about and consists mainly of muscles with no skeletal support....
s.

Tentacles in invertebrates

The phylum Mollusca
Mollusca

MolluscsSpelled mollusk in the USA; the spelling "mollusc" is preferred by some authors, see the reasons given by . are animals belonging to the Phylum Mollusca....
 includes many species with muscular hydrostat
Muscular hydrostat

A muscular hydrostat is a biological structure found in animals. It is used to manipulate items or to move its host about and consists mainly of muscles with no skeletal support....
s in the form of tentacles and arms (octopus
Octopus

The octopus is a cephalopod of the order Octopoda that inhabits many diverse regions of the ocean, especially coral reefs. The term may also refer to only those creatures in the genus Octopus ....
es do not have tentacles: they have arms
Cephalopod arm

A cephalopod arm is distinct from a Tentacle#Tentacles in invertebrates, though the terms are used often interchangeably.By definition, cephalopod arms have suckers along most of their length, as opposed to tentacles, which have suckers only near their ends....
). Tentacles are longer than arms and usually have suckers at their tips only. Squid
Squid

Squid are marine cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, Symmetry #Bilateral_symmetry, a mantle , and cephalopod arms....
 and cuttlefish
Cuttlefish

Cuttlefish are Marine animals of the order Sepiida belonging to the Cephalopoda class . Despite their common name, cuttlefish are not fish but molluscs....
 have eight arms like octopuses, but also two tentacles.

The tentacles of the Giant Squid
Giant squid

The giant squid is a deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae, represented by as many as eight species. Giant squid can grow to a Deep-sea gigantism: recent estimates put the maximum size at for females and for males from Fish anatomy to the tip of the two long tentacles ....
 and Colossal Squid
Colossal Squid

The Colossal Squid , sometimes called the Antarctic or Giant Cranch Squid, is believed to be the Cephalopod size squid species. It is the only known member of the genus Mesonychoteuthis....
 are particularly formidable, having powerful suckers and pointed teeth at the ends of the tentacle. The teeth of the Giant Squid are small, "bottle cap"-shaped circular
Circular

Circular may refer to:*Circle, or something in the shape of a circle*Flyer , a single page leaflet advertising a nightclub, event, service, or other activity...
 saws, while the tentacles of the Colossal Squid wield two long rows of swivelling and three-pointed hooks.

Snail
Snail

The word snail is a common name for almost all members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled animal shells in the adult stage. When the word snail is used in a general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails....
s are another class of Mollusca
Mollusca

MolluscsSpelled mollusk in the USA; the spelling "mollusc" is preferred by some authors, see the reasons given by . are animals belonging to the Phylum Mollusca....
. They have far less elaborate tentacles than the Cephalopods. Pulmonate land snails usually have two sets of tentacles on the head: the upper pair have an eye at the end; the lower pair are for olfaction
Olfaction

Olfaction refers to the sense of smell. This sense is mediated by specialized sensory cells of the nasal cavity of vertebrates, and, by analogy, sensory cells of the antennae of invertebrates....
. Both pairs are fully retractable. Some marine snails such as the abalone
Abalone

Abalone are medium-sized to very large edible sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis....
 and the top snails, Trochidae
Trochidae

The Trochidae, common name top snails, are a taxonomic family of very small to large sea snails, Marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Vetigastropoda ....
 have numerous small tentacles around the edge of the mantle
Mantle (mollusc)

The mantle is a significant part of the anatomy of molluscs: it is the dorsum body wall which covers the visceral mass.In many, but by no means all, species of molluscs, the Epidermis of the mantle secretes calcium carbonate and conchiolin, and creates a mollusc shell....
. These are known as pallial tentacles.

Cnidarians, which include among others the jellyfish
Jellyfish

Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. They have several different morphologies that represent several different cnidarian classes including the Scyphozoa , Staurozoa , Cubozoa , and Hydrozoa ....
es, are another phylum with many tentaculated specimens. Cnidarians often have huge numbers of cnidocyte
Cnidocyte

A cnidocyte, cnidoblast, or nematocyte is a type of venomous cell unique to the phylum Cnidaria . The cnidocyte cell provides a means for them to catch prey and defend themselves from predators....
s on their tentacles. Cnidocytes are cells containing a coiled thread-like structure called a nematocyst, which can be fired at potential prey.

Many species of the jellyfishlike ctenophore
Ctenophore

The Ctenophora , commonly known as comb jellies, is a phylum of animals that live in all types of marine waters world-wide. Their most distinctive feature is the "combs", groups of cilia that they use for swimming, and they are the largest animals that swim by means of cilia ? adults of various species range from a few millimeters to...
s have two tentacles, while some have none. Their tentacles have adhesive structures called colloblast
Colloblast

Colloblasts are a cell type of Ctenophora. They are widespread in the tentacles of these animals and are used to capture prey. On contact, Vesicle s containing a gluey substance rupture, and thus entangle the prey animal in the tentilla, the fine threads attached to the tentacle....
s or lasso cells. These cells burst open when prey comes in contact with the tentacle; sticky threads released from each of the colloblasts will then capture the food.

Bryozoa
Bryozoa

Bryozoans are tiny colonial animals that generally build stony skeletons of calcium carbonate, superficially similar to coral . Members of the Phylum Bryozoa are known as "moss animals" or "moss animacules" or as "sea mats"....
 (Moss animals) are tiny creatures with a ring of tentacles surrounding the mouth.

Tentacles in amphibians

Some wormlike amphibian
Amphibian

Amphibians , such as frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians, are cold-blooded animals that metamorphose from a juvenile, water-breathing form to an adult, air-breathing form....
s have tentacles. The caecilian
Caecilian

The caecilians are an order of amphibians that superficially resemble earthworms or snakes. They mostly live hidden in the ground, which makes them the least explored order of amphibians, and widely unknown....
s have two tentacles at their heads, which are probably used for the olfactory
Olfaction

Olfaction refers to the sense of smell. This sense is mediated by specialized sensory cells of the nasal cavity of vertebrates, and, by analogy, sensory cells of the antennae of invertebrates....
 sense.

Tentacles in mammals

The star-nosed mole
Star-nosed mole

File:Star Nosed Mole .jpgThe star-nosed mole is a small North American mole found in eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States. It is the only member of the tribe Condylurini and the genus Condylura....
, Condylura cristata, possesses nasal tentacles which are mobile and extremely sensitive, helping the animal to find its way about the burrow and detect prey.

Tentacles in plants

Drosera Capensis Bend
In carnivorous plant
Carnivorous plant

Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods....
s, tentacles refer to the stalked glands of the upper surface of the leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
.

On a sundew plant, they are hairlike projections with a drop of nectar-like glue which attract insects. When an insect is captured, the tentacles bend inward and the leaf rolls together as shown in the picture. The tentacles then secrete digestive enzyme
Enzyme

Enzymes are biomolecules that catalysis chemical reactions. Almost all enzymes are proteins. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called Substrate , and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, the products....
s to dissolve and engulf the insect.

Tentacles in cultural context

The great differences between humans and the tentacle-bearing Mollusca have led to tentacles being associated with inhumanity and disgust in legend and fiction. For examples, see:

  • Tentacle rape
    Tentacle rape

    Tentacle rape or shokushu goukan is a concept found in some Horror fiction hentai titles, where various tentacled creatures rape or otherwise penetrate women, or, less commonly, men....
  • Purple Tentacle (see Day of the Tentacle
    Day of the Tentacle

    Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle is a graphical adventure game, originally released in 1993, and published by LucasArts. It is the eighth game to use the SCUMM engine....
    )
  • Cthulhu
    Cthulhu

    Cthulhu is a cosmic being character created by horror author H. P. Lovecraft in 1926, first appearing in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu" when it was published in Weird Tales in 1928....
  • The Kraken
    Kraken

    Kraken are legendary sea monsters of gargantuan size, said to have dwelt off the coasts of Norway and Iceland. The sheer size and fearsome appearance attributed to the beasts have made them common ocean-dwelling monsters in various fictional works ....
  • Cecaelia
    Cecaelia

    A cecaelia is a composite mythical being, appearing occasionally in art , literature, and multimedia; combining the head, arms and torso of a woman and, from the lower torso down, the tentacles of an octopus or squid as a form of mermaid or sea demon....

In games

  • Half-Life
  • Die by the Sword
    Die by the Sword

    Die by the Sword is a computer game swordfighting game developed by Treyarch, and published by Tantrum Entertainment on February 28 1998. The title's main selling point was the introduction of the VSIM control system, which allowed players to independently command the movement and swordfighting of their ingame avatars; running, jumping,...
  • Ing
    Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

    Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is a First person , Action-adventure game video game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube video game console....
  • Day of the Tentacle
    Day of the Tentacle

    Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle is a graphical adventure game, originally released in 1993, and published by LucasArts. It is the eighth game to use the SCUMM engine....


External links