Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kampowski T
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4874431 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Journal of the Royal Society, Interface 20160401 117
Medicinal leeches use their suction discs for locomotion, adhesion to the host and, in the case of the anterior disc, also for blood ingestion. The biomechanics of their suction-based adhesion systems has been little understood until now. We investigated the functional morphology of the anterior and posterior suckers ofH irudo verbena by using light and scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, we analysed the adhesion qualitatively and quantitatively by conducting behavioural and mechanical ex ...[more]