All Topics  
Water vascular system

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Water vascular system
 
 
  Topics Water vascular system Topic Home

The water vascular system is a hydraulic system used by echinoderm
Echinoderm

Echinoderms are a Phylum of Marine animals . Echinoderms are found at every ocean depth, from the intertidal zone to the abyssal zone.Aside from the problematic Arkarua, the first definitive members of the phylum appeared near the start of the Cambrian period....
s, such as starfish and sea urchin
Sea urchin

Sea urchins are small, spiny, globular creatures that compose most of class Echinoidea. They are found in oceans all over the world. Their shell, or "test", is round and spiny, typically from 3 to 10 cm across....
s, for locomotion, food and waste transportation, and respiration
Respiration (physiology)

In animal physiology, respiration is the transport of Oxygen from the outside air to the cells within Tissue s and the transport of carbon dioxide in the opposite direction....
. The system is composed of canals connecting numerous tube feet
Tube feet

Tube feet are the many small tubular projections found most famously on the ventral face of a sea star'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....
. Echinoderms move by alternately contracting muscles that force water into the tube feet, causing them to extend and push against the ground, then relaxing to allow the feet to retract..

Water enters madreporite
Madreporite

File:Madreporenplatte.jpgThe madreporite is an opening used to filter water into the water vascular system of echinoderms. It is visible as a small red or yellow button-like structure, looking like a small wart, on the aboral surface of the central disk of a sea star....
 and flows through the stone canal and then enters the circular ring canal.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Water vascular system'
Start a new discussion about 'Water vascular system'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The water vascular system is a hydraulic system used by echinoderm
Echinoderm

Echinoderms are a Phylum of Marine animals . Echinoderms are found at every ocean depth, from the intertidal zone to the abyssal zone.Aside from the problematic Arkarua, the first definitive members of the phylum appeared near the start of the Cambrian period....
s, such as starfish and sea urchin
Sea urchin

Sea urchins are small, spiny, globular creatures that compose most of class Echinoidea. They are found in oceans all over the world. Their shell, or "test", is round and spiny, typically from 3 to 10 cm across....
s, for locomotion, food and waste transportation, and respiration
Respiration (physiology)

In animal physiology, respiration is the transport of Oxygen from the outside air to the cells within Tissue s and the transport of carbon dioxide in the opposite direction....
. The system is composed of canals connecting numerous tube feet
Tube feet

Tube feet are the many small tubular projections found most famously on the ventral face of a sea star'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....
. Echinoderms move by alternately contracting muscles that force water into the tube feet, causing them to extend and push against the ground, then relaxing to allow the feet to retract..

Water enters madreporite
Madreporite

File:Madreporenplatte.jpgThe madreporite is an opening used to filter water into the water vascular system of echinoderms. It is visible as a small red or yellow button-like structure, looking like a small wart, on the aboral surface of the central disk of a sea star....
 and flows through the stone canal and then enters the circular ring canal. Water then is separated into five radial canals that branch into double rows of bulblike structures called ampullae, which are on each side of the ambulacral ridge. The ampullae are connected to suckerlike podia, the entire structure is called a tube foot. Contraction of the ampullae causes the podia to stretch as water is brought into them. This whole process allows for movement, and is quite powerful but extremely slow.