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hinoderms possess a unique water vascular system. This is a network of fluid-filled canals derived from the coelom (body cavity) that function in gas exchange, feeding, sensory reception and locomotion. This system varies between different classes of echinoderm but typically opens to the exterior through a sieve-like madreporite on the aboral (upper) surface of the animal. The madreporite is linked to a slender duct, the stone canal, which extends to a ring canal that encircles the mouth or oesophagus. From this, radial canals extend along the arms of asteroids and adjoin the test in the ambulacral areas of echinoids. Short lateral canals branch off the radial canals, each one ending in an ampulla. Part of the ampulla can protrude through a pore (or a pair of pores in sea urchins) to the exterior and is known as a podium or tube feet. The water vascular system assists with the distribution of nutrients throughout the animal's body and is most obviously expressed in the tube feet which can be extended or contracted by the redistribution of fluid between the foot and the internal sac. The organization of the system is somewhat different in ophiuroids where the madreporite may be on the oral surface and the podia lack suckers. In holothuroids, the podia may be reduced or absent and the madreporite opens into the body cavity so that the circulating liquid is coelomic fluid rather than sea water. The arrangements in crinoids is similar to asteroids but the tube feet lack suckers and are used to pass food particles captured by the arms towards the central mouth. In the asteroids, the same wafting motion is employed to move the animal across the ground. Sea urchins use their feet to prevent the larvae of encrusting organisms from settling on their surfaces; potential settlers are moved to the urchin's mouth and eaten. Some burrowing sea stars extend their elongated dorsal tube feet to the surface of the sand or mud above and use them to absorb oxygen fro