Textures and traction: how tube-dwelling polychaetes get a leg up.

ABSTRACT: By controlling the traction between its body and the tube wall, a tube-dwelling polychaete can move efficiently from one end of its tube to the other, brace its body during normal functions (e.g., ventilation and feeding), and anchor within its tube avoiding removal by predators. To examine the potential physical interaction between worms and the tubes they live in, scanning electron microscopy was used to reveal and quantify the morphology of worm bodies and the tubes they produce for species representing 13 families of tube-dwelling polychaetes. In the tubes of most species there were macroscopic or nearly macroscopic (∼10 μm-1 mm) bumps or ridges that protruded slightly into the lumen of the tube; these could provide purchase as a worm moves or anchors. At this scale (∼10 μm-1 mm), the

SUBMITTER: Merz RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4375521 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature