The hydrostatic skeleton of many other animals is provided by the body cavity, or coelom, which is situated outside the alimentary canal and inside the body wall. In an earthworm the body cavity of each segment of the trunk is separated from that of the next by a partition, so that the segmented body possesses a series of more or less isolated coelomic, fluid-filled spaces of fixed volume. The body wall contains circular and longitudinal muscles and some minor muscles. As in the sea anemone, skeletal connective-tissue fibres form the muscle insertions. As a worm crawls or burrows, a group of segments shorten and widen, their total volume remaining the same; contact with the ground is maintained by projection of bristlelike structures from the cuticle (setae). Groups of short, wide segments are formed at intervals along the body; the segments between these groups are longer, narrower, and not in contact with the ground. As the worm crawls, the thickened zones appear to travel backward along the body, because the segments just behind each zone thicken, widen, and cling to the ground, while the segments at the front end of each wide zone free themselves from the ground and become longer and narrower. Thus, the head end of the body intermittently progresses forward over the ground or enters a crevice as the longitudinally extending segments are continuously being lengthened outward from the front end of each thickened zone. It is therefore only the long, narrow segments that are moving forward. This mechanism of crawling by the alternate and antagonistic action of the longitudinal and circular muscles is made possible by the hydrostatic action of the incompressible coelomic spaces. The movements of most other annelid worms are also controlled by a hydrostatic skeleton.

Skeletomusculature of arthropods

In arthropods the skeleton is formed in part by the cuticle covering the body surface, by internal connective-tissue fibres, and by a hydrostatic skeleton formed by the hemocoele, or enlarged blood-filled spaces. The cuticle may be flexible or stiff, but it does not stretch. In the Onychophora (e.g., Peripatus) the cuticle is thin and much-folded, thus allowing great changes in the body shape. The muscular body wall, as in annelids, works against the hydrostatic skeleton in the hemocoele. Each leg moves in a manner similar to the body movement of a sea anemone or a Hydra. But a unique lateral isolating mechanism allows suitable hydrostatic pressures to be available for each leg. Muscles of a particular leg thus can be used independently, no matter what the other legs may be doing or what influence the body movements may be having on the general hemocoele.

In most adult arthropods the cuticle is less flexible than in the Onychophora: localized stiff sclerites are separated by flexible joints between them, and, as a result, the hydrostatic action of the hemocoele is of less importance. Cuticle, secreted by the ectodermal cells, may be stiffened by deposition of lime or by tanning (sclerotization). Muscle fibres or their connective-tissue supports are connected to the cuticle by tonofibrils within the cytoplasm of ectodermal cells.

The joints between the stiffened sclerites consist of undifferentiated flexible cuticle. Between the distal (i.e., away from the central body axis) leg segments of many arthropods, the flexible cuticle at the joint is relatively large ventrally (i.e., on the lower side) and very short dorsally (i.e., on the upper side), thus forming a dorsal hinge. Flexor muscles (for drawing the limb toward the body) span the joint and cause flexure of the distal part of the leg. There are no extensor muscles, however, and straightening of the leg when it is off the ground is effected by hydrostatic pressure of the general hemocoele and by proximal depressor muscles that open the joint indirectly. Between the proximal leg segments (i.e., those closer to the point of insertion of the limb into the body), pivot joints are usually present. They are composed of a pair of imbricating facets near the edges of the overlapping cylinders that cover the leg segments, with one pair on the anterior face of the leg and another on the posterior face. A pair of antagonistic muscles span the leg joint and move the distal segment up or down, without reference to hydrostatic pressure.

The more-advanced arthropods—those with the most elaborate sclerites and joints—are no longer dependent upon hydrostatic forces for skeletomuscular action. Evolution away from the hydrostatic skeleton has made possible faster and stronger movements of one cuticular unit upon another. The type of skeletomusculature appropriate for producing fast movements, such as rapid running, jumping, or flying, is quite different from those producing strong movements, such as those used by burrowing arthropods.

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reptile: Skeletal system

The flexible edges of the sclerites of burrowing centipedes (Geophilomorpha) enable them to change their shape in an earthwormlike manner while preserving a complete armour of surface sclerites at all times. The marginal zones of the sclerites bear cones of sclerotization that are set in the flexible cuticle, thus permitting flexure in any direction without impairing strength. The surface of the arthropodan cuticle is rendered waterproof, or hydrofuge, by a variety of structures, such as waxy layers, scales, and hairs. These features enable the animals not only to resist desiccation on land but to exist in damp places without uptake of water—a process that could cause swelling of the body and lead to death. The cuticular endoskeleton is formed by an infolding of surface cuticle. Sometimes a large surface sclerite called a carapace covers both the head and the thorax, as in crabs and lobsters.

Connective-tissue fibres form substantial endoskeletal units in arthropods. The fibres are not united to the cuticle and are not shed during molting; rather, they grow with the body. A massive and compact endosternite (internal sternite), formed by connective-tissue fibres, frequently lies below the gut and above the nerve cord. In Limulus, the horseshoe crab, muscles from the anterior margin of the coxa (the leg segment nearest the body) are inserted on the endosternite, as are other muscles from the posterior margin.

The jointed cuticular skeleton of arthropods enables them to attain considerable size, up to a few metres in length, and to move rapidly. These animals have solved most of the problems presented by life on dry land in a manner unequaled by any other group of invertebrates. They have also evolved efficient flight by means of wings derived from the cuticle. The arthropods can never achieve the body size of the larger vertebrates, although mechanically they perform as well as smaller vertebrates. As mentioned above, the major limiting factor to size increase is the need to molt the exoskeleton.

Skeleton of echinoderms

Among the invertebrates, only the echinoderms possess an extensive mesodermal skeleton that is stiffened by calcification—as in vertebrates—and also grows with the body. The five-rayed symmetry of echinoderms may be likened to the vertebral axis of vertebrates. It is similarly supported; a series of ambulacral ossicles in each ray roughly corresponds with the vertebrae of vertebrates. The ossicles articulate with each other in mobile echinoderms such as starfishes and form the basis of the rapid movements of the arms of crinoids, brittlestars, and similar forms. The ambulacral ossicles and, in many cases, the surface spines provide protection for superficial nerve cords, which extend along the arms and around the mouth. The ossicles also protect the tubes of the water-vascular system, a hydraulic apparatus peculiar to echinoderms. In sea urchins a spherical, rigid body is formed by the five arms coming together dorsally around the anus; the ambulacral ossicles are immobile, and the body wall between the ambulacra is made rigid by a layer of calcareous plates below the ectoderm, which completes the continuous spherical skeleton. Locomotion is carried out by extensible tube feet, soft structures that are pendant from the water-vascular system. Mobile spines also serve for locomotion in many classes, the base of the spine articulating with a part of some stable ossicle. The fine internal structure of echinoderm sclerites bears no resemblance to that of bone.