ArticlePloS one2015
Experimental Investigation on the Morphology and Adhesion Mechanism of Leech Posterior Suckers.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- New deep sea terebellid polychaete with sucker like ventral pads adapted to a sediment free environment.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- An ingestible, battery-free, tissue-adhering robotic interface for non-invasive and chronic electrostimulation of the gut.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Postembryonic development and lifestyle shift in the commensal ribbon worm.Frontiers in zoology · 2024Article
- Juvenile detachment, an early sign of departure from parental care, in the leech Orientobdelloides siamensis (Oka, 1917).PloS one · 2024Article
- Advanced Bionic Attachment Equipment Inspired by the Attachment Performance of Aquatic Organisms: A Review.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Abalone adhesion: The role of various adhesion forces and their proportion to total adhesion force.PloS one · 2023Article
- The effects of substrate porosity, mechanical substrate properties and loading conditions on the attachment performance of the Mediterranean medicinal leech (Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2022Article
- Exploring the attachment of the Mediterranean medicinal leech (Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2020Article
- Quantifying the mechanics of locomotion of the schistosome pathogen with respect to changes in its physical environment.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2019Article
- Anchoring like octopus: biologically inspired soft artificial sucker.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2017Article
- Functional morphology of suction discs and attachment performance of the Mediterranean medicinal leech (Hirudo verbana Carena).Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2016Article
- Light Microscopy and Ultrastructure of Body Wall in LeechJournal of microscopy and ultrastructureArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The posterior sucker of a leech represents a fascinating natural system that allows the leech to adhere to different terrains and substrates. However, the mechanism of adhesion and desorption has not yet to be elucidated. In order to better understand how the adhesion is performed, we analyzed the surface structure, adsorption movements, the muscles' distribution, physical characteristics, and the adsorption force of the leech posterior suckers by experimental investigation. Three conclusions can be drawn based on the obtained experimental results. First, the adhesion by the posterior sucker is wet adhesion, because the surface of the posterior sucker is smooth and the sealing can only be achieved on wet surfaces. Second, the deformation texture, consisting of soft collagen tissues and highly ductile epidermal tissues, plays a key role in adhering to rough surfaces. Finally, the adhesion and desorption is achieved by the synergetic operation of six muscle fibers working in different directions. Concrete saying, directional deformation of the collagen/epithermal interface driven by spatially-distributed muscle fibers facilitates the excretion of fluids in the sucker venter, thus allowing liquid sealing. Furthermore, we found that the adhesion strength is directly related to the size of the contact surface which is generated and affected by the sucker deformation. Such an underlying physical mechanism offers potential cues for developing innovative bio-inspired artificial adhesion systems.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.