tentacle
Tentacles are elongated structures on the leaves of plants ( glandular tentacles ) or on animals . They are mostly used to catch prey . Two classes of animals , the tentaculata and the atentaculata , are named after tentacles.
In botany
Tentacles are appendages of leaves of carnivorous plants that use them to catch animals. In the tentacles there are vascular ducts ( tracheids ). At the thickened end, resembling a head, there are glandular cells that release mucus. This is clear, sticky, and can digest proteins.
In zoology
Tentacles, or tentacles, are found on the head of cephalopods , cnidarians, and other invertebrates. They are mostly mobile and are often used to feel and grasp prey, sometimes also to digest them ( suctoria ). They are seldom used to support locomotion and for contact with conspecifics, e.g. B. in cephalopods such as the octopus . The tentacles of some species of jellyfish can be up to forty meters long.
literature
- Lexicon of Biology. Volume 13, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg 2004. ISBN 3-8274-0338-3
- Gertrud Scherf: Dictionary of Biology. dtv, 1997. ISBN 3-423-32500-3
