Papula

❧

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Papula" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Papulae (sing. papula; also occasionally papulla, papullae), also known as dermal branchiae or skin gills, are projections of the coelom of Asteroidea that serve in respiration and waste removal^[1]. Papulae are soft, covered externally with the epidermis, and lined internally with peritoneum. They extend through the mesodermal ossicles and are protected from microscopic larvae by pedicellariae. In a living specimen, the dermal gills can be extended or withdrawn.

References

↑ Shick, JM; Edwards, KC; Dearborn, JH (1981). "Physiological Ecology of the Deposit-Feeding Sea Star Ctenodiscus crispatus: Ciliated Surfaces and Animal-Sediment lnteractions". Marine Ecology Progress Series. 5: 165–184. doi:10.3354/meps005165. ISSN 0171-8630.

This article about a starfish is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This article about anatomy of the phylum Echinodermata is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.