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The radula (US: / ˈ r æ dʒ ʊ l ə /; pl.: radulae or radulas) [1] is an anatomical structure used by mollusks for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. [2] It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus .
The buccal mass is the first part of the digestive system, and consists of the mouth and pharynx. The mouth includes a radula, and in most cases, also a pair of jaws. The pharynx can be very large, especially in carnivorous species. Many carnivorous species have developed a proboscis, containing the oral cavity, radula, and part of the ...
Muscles that control the radula are shown in brown. The surface of the radula ribbon, with numerous teeth, is shown as a zig-zag line. The odontophore is part of the feeding mechanism in molluscs. It is the cartilage which underlies and supports the radula, a ribbon of teeth. [1] The radula is found in every class of molluscs except for the ...
The radula primarily functions to scrape bacteria and algae off rocks, and is associated with the odontophore, a cartilaginous supporting organ. [16] The radula is unique to the molluscs and has no equivalent in any other animal. Molluscs' mouths also contain glands that secrete slimy mucus, to which the food sticks.
The hyponome or siphon is the organ used by cephalopods to expel water, a function that produces a locomotive force. The hyponome developed from the foot of the molluscan ancestor. [14] Water enters the mantle cavity around the sides of the funnel, and subsequent contraction of the hyponome expands and then contracts, expelling a jet of water.
The mantle cavity functions as a respiratory chamber in most mollusks. In bivalves it is usually part of the feeding structure. In some mollusks the mantle cavity is a brood chamber, and in cephalopods and some bivalves such as scallops, it is a locomotory organ. The mantle is highly muscular.
The hyaline shield (hy.sh.) attached to an Octopus radula.Scale bar: 0.5 mm. The hyaline shield is a part of the radula in many kinds of molluscs.It serves as an attachment point for the muscles that retract the radula, and is thus located on the upper surface of the radula, arching backwards into the mouth.
The radula in this species is longer than the shell itself. It contains 1,920 teeth in 160 rows of 12 teeth each. Patella vulgata is found attached to firm substrates from the high shore to the edge of the sublittoral zone, although it predominates in areas of wave action. Its shell is conical, up to around 6 cm long, and lacks defined chirality.