Tube feet attach in marine environment: echinoderms

1 of 1 Tube feet of a starfish / Jordan Dawe / License

The tube feet of echinoderms attach to surfaces via suction adhesion.

Biomimicry Taxonomy

	Move or stay put >
	Attach >
	Temporarily

Biomimetic Application Ideas

Suction-cup mounted assemblies with better adhesion, marine and other coatings with better adhesive properties (durability), marine infrastructure that relies on suction under certain tidal conditions, suction-based boat moorings to decrease damage from anchors.

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[Collapse all sections] Summary

"Besides mollusks, echinoderm tube feet make use of suction adhesion, as do a wide variety of other aquatic systems--either as the only attachment mechanism or in combination with others. Among terrestrial systems one thinks first of wet ones--frogs for instance. But the mechanism finds use even in arboreal mammals." (Vogel 2003:427)

About the inspiring organism

Echinodermata
Echinodermata

Organism/taxonomy data provided by:
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist

Bioinspired products and application ideas

Application Ideas: Suction-cup mounted assemblies with better adhesion, marine and other coatings with better adhesive properties (durability), marine infrastructure that relies on suction under certain tidal conditions, suction-based boat moorings to decrease damage from anchors.

Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Manufacturing, coatings, marine siting, boat moorings

References

Steven Vogel. 2003. Comparative Biomechanics: Life's Physical World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 580 p.

Tube feet attach in marine environment: echinoderms

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