Editing Tentacle (section)

{{Short description|Varied organ found in many animals and used for palpation and manipulation}}
{{About|tentacles in zoology}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
[[Image:cuttlefish.png|thumb|upright|[[Cuttlefish]] with two tentacles and eight arms]]

In [[zoology]], a '''tentacle''' is a flexible, mobile, and elongated [[organ (anatomy)|organ]] present in some species of [[animal]]s, most of them [[invertebrate]]s. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work mainly like [[muscular hydrostat]]s. Most forms of tentacles are used for grasping and feeding. Many are [[Sensory system|sensory organs]], variously receptive to [[somatosensory system|touch]], [[visual perception|vision]], or to the [[Chemoreceptor|smell or taste]] of particular foods or threats. Examples of such tentacles are the [[eyestalk]]s of various kinds of [[snail]]s. Some kinds of tentacles have both sensory and manipulatory functions.

A tentacle is similar to a [[cirrus (biology)|cirrus]], but a cirrus is an organ that usually lacks the tentacle's strength, size, flexibility, or sensitivity.  A [[nautilus]] has cirri, but a [[squid]] has tentacles.