Tentacle

<p>In <a href="/facts/Zoology/6Kj13mBt">zoology</a>, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated <a href="/facts/Organ_(anatomy)/FUYsLaxz">organ</a> present in some species of <a href="/facts/Animal/4b8J33nd">animals</a>, most of them <a href="/facts/Invertebrate/3CyqCVnN">invertebrates</a>. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work mainly like <a href="/facts/Muscular_hydrostat/kLNarQh8">muscular hydrostats</a>. Most forms of tentacles are used for grasping and feeding. Many are <a href="/facts/Sensory_system/05dM9sTQ">sensory organs</a>, variously receptive to <a href="/facts/Somatosensory_system/0nhRsBnt">touch</a>, <a href="/facts/Visual_perception/g7Tfaq2l">vision</a>, or to the <a href="/facts/Chemoreceptor/KC6IDxzf">smell or taste</a> of particular foods or threats. Examples of such tentacles are the <a href="/facts/Eyestalk/ztQKH90U">eyestalks</a> of various kinds of <a href="/facts/Snail/y94YHrPw">snails</a>. Some kinds of tentacles have both sensory and manipulatory functions.
</p><p>A tentacle is similar to a <a href="/facts/Cirrus_(biology)/INVUascX">cirrus</a>, but a cirrus is an organ that usually lacks the tentacle's strength, size, flexibility, or sensitivity.  A <a href="/facts/Nautilus/5VgYqgds">nautilus</a> has cirri, but a <a href="/facts/Squid/wFXpcNUf">squid</a> has tentacles.
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Tentacle open-in-new

Tentacle