Dactylus

For the foot in metric poetry, see Dactyl (poetry). For the suffix "-dactylus", see List of commonly used taxonomic affixes.
The leg of a squat lobster, with the dactylus labelled

The dactylus is the tip region of the tentacular club of cephalopods and of the leg of some crustaceans (see arthropod leg). In cephalopods, the dactylus is narrow and often characterized by the asymmetrical placement of suckers (i.e., the ventral expansion of the club)[1] and the absence of a dorsal protective membrane. In crustaceans, the dactylus is the seventh and terminal segment of their thoracic appendages. In certain instances the dactylus, together with the propodus, form the claw.[2]

The term dactylus means "finger" in Greek.

  1. ^ Walla, Graeme. "Comparative Morphology of Cephalopod Armature". The Octopus News Magazine Online. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  2. ^ Robin, Ninon; van Bakel, Barry W. M.; Hyžný, Matúš; Cincotta, Aude; Garcia, Géraldine; Charbonnier, Sylvain; Godefroit, Pascal; Valentin, Xavier (27 December 2019). "The oldest freshwater crabs: claws on dinosaur bones". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 20220. Bibcode:2019NatSR...920220R. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-56180-w. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 6934782. PMID 31882600.