Cirrus (biology)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about a structure in animals. For the plant structure, see Tendril. For the meteorological term, see Cirrus cloud.
roughhead blenny with supraorbital
cirri
Look up cirrus or cirri in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

In biology, a cirrus (/ˈsɪrəs/ SIRR-əs, pl.: cirri, /ˈsɪraɪ/ SIRR-eye, from the Latin cirrus meaning a curl-like tuft or fringe) is a long, thin structure in an animal similar to a tentacle but generally lacking the tentacle's strength, flexibility, thickness, and sensitivity.

In the

Taenia species of tapeworm. In the clam worms, however, the cirrus is the tentacular process or growth on each of the feet (parpodia), either the dorsal cirrus or the ventral cirrus, and has nothing to do with reproduction.[1]
: p. 431 

Among the

feather stars or barnacles, a cirrus is a long slender gripping or feeding appendage.[4]

In sea lilies, the cirri are the thin strands that line the animal's stalk. Among the tube blennies, a cirrus is a long growth extending from above the eye (a supraorbital cirrus) or extending below the neck-region (a nuchal cirrus).[5] In a nautilus, each of the animal's tentacles is composed of a thin flexible cirrus and the corresponding hardened and protective cirrus sheath into which the cirri may be withdrawn.[6]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-81-7133-903-7. Retrieved 31 July 2013.[permanent dead link
    ]
  2. ISBN 978-0-643-06571-0
    . Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  3. ISBN 978-0-87249-535-7
    . Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  4. ISBN 978-1-77007-633-4. Retrieved 31 July 2013.[permanent dead link
    ]
  5. ISBN 978-0-292-77838-2
    . Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  6. ISBN 978-0-521-64583-6
    . Retrieved 31 July 2013.
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