Small flatworms (Platyhelminthes) and some of the smaller molluscan species move along the bottom by ciliary activity. On their ventral (bottom) surface, a dense coat of cilia extends from head to tail. The direction of the ciliary beat is tailward, causing the animal to glide slowly forward. Generally, all animals that move by this type of ciliary activity secrete a copious stream of mucus over which the animal glides. The mucus not only attaches the animal to the surface but also raises its body so that the cilia can beat. Because ciliary forces are too weak for the movement of large flatworms, they must use muscular contraction for their propulsive force.

Aquatic invertebrates possess several other types of bottom locomotion. In species with well-developed legs, such as crabs and lobsters, bottom walking is common. Whereas the gaits in such cases are identical to those used on land, they tend to be slightly faster in water, because the buoyancy increases the animal’s stability. (See below Terrestrial locomotion.)

Another form of bottom locomotion is bottom creeping, which employs the contract–anchor–extend method of movement. Bottom creeping is best developed in leeches, which have two suckers, one at the anterior end and one at the posterior end. After the posterior sucker anchors the animal, it stretches its body forward and attaches the anterior one. It then releases the posterior sucker and contracts its body toward the anterior end. For effective contract–anchor–extend locomotion, the body musculature must consist of both circular and longitudinal muscles: the contraction of the circular muscles extends or elongates the body; the contraction of the longitudinal muscles flexes and shortens the body. Moreover, the skeleton should be hydrostatic; that is, a fluid skeleton that changes shape but not volume, thereby providing a firm but flexible base.

In pedal locomotion, which is a slow, continuous gliding that is superficially indistinguishable from ciliary locomotion, propulsion along the bottom is generated by the passage of contraction waves through the ventral musculature, which is in contact with the bottom surface. The pedal contraction waves are either direct (in the same direction as the movement) or retrograde (in the direction opposite to the movement). The direct waves produce locomotion in a manner analogous to that in which a caterpillar walks. When a direct wave reaches a muscle, the muscle contracts and lifts a small part of the body; the body is carried forward and set down anterior to its original position as the wave passes. With direct waves, the surfaces of the body touching the bottom surface are not the ones that contract; with retrograde waves, however, these are the surfaces that do contract. As the retrograde wave approaches, the body area immediately adjacent to it is extended upward. The body surface within the contraction area then anchors itself to the bottom surface, after which the body is pulled forward.

Large flatworms use pedal locomotion instead of or in alternation with ciliary activity. In the gastropod and amphineuran molluscans (e.g., snails and chitons, respectively), pedal locomotion is the primary locomotor mode and has become highly complex. The foot of these creeping animals is extremely muscular, penetrated by nerves, and capable of generating one, two, or four laterally adjacent contraction waves. If the foot generates a pair of waves, the lateral halves of the foot may alternate, thereby producing a shuffling movement, or they may be opposite. Generally, a foot can contain no more than one whole and two partial waves moving along a single axis.

Peristaltic locomotion is a common locomotor pattern in elongated, soft-bodied invertebrates, particularly in segmented worms, such as earthworms. It involves the alternation of circular- and longitudinal-muscle-contraction waves. Forward movement is produced by contraction of the circular muscles, which extends or elongates the body; contraction of the longitudinal muscles shortens and anchors the body (see below Fossorial locomotion).

Although peristaltic locomotion is frequently used by sea cucumbers, they and other echinoderms, such as sea urchins and starfishes, possess rows of tube feet that provide the main locomotor force. In starfishes, each arm bears hundreds of tube feet. Only one arm, however, becomes dominant in locomotion; while the tube feet on that arm move toward the tip of the arm, the tube feet of the other arms move in the same plane as those of the lead arm. Because there is no apparent metachronal wave of contraction within an arm, the movement of the tube feet is poorly coordinated, but small areas of the tube feet do move in synchrony. Each tube foot is a hollow elastic cylinder capped by a hollow muscular ampulla (a small, bladder-like enlargement). When the ampulla contracts, it forces fluid into the tube foot and extends it. Preferential contraction of muscles in the wall of the tube foot controls the direction of and the retraction of the tube foot. When the tube foot is fully contracted, fluid is withdrawn from it by relaxation of the ampulla, after which the muscles of the tube foot swing it forward in preparation for another step.

Swimming

Invertebrates have developed two distinct propulsive mechanisms for swimming: some use hydraulic propulsion; all others utilize undulations of all or parts of their bodies. The medusa (umbrella-shaped) body of coelenterates and ctenophores (e.g., jellyfish and comb jelly, respectively) is a flexible hemisphere with tentacles and sense organs suspended from the edge; a manubrium (handle-shaped structure) bearing the digestive system hangs from the internal tip of the hemisphere. Enclosed in the outer margin of the medusa is a wide muscular band; when this band contracts, the opening of the medusa narrows. Simultaneously, water is ejected from the medusa through the narrow opening, and the animal is propelled upward. Because the contractions tend to be regular but slow, locomotion is somewhat jerky.

Scallops are the best swimmers among bivalve molluscans that can swim. Locomotion is produced by rapid clapping movements of the two shells, creating a water jet that propels the scallop. The muscular mantle (a membranous fold beneath the shell) acts as a valve and controls the direction of flow of the ejected water, thereby controlling the direction of movement. Normally, the flow is directed downward on each side of the hinge that joins the two shells, and the resulting water jet lifts the scallop and moves it in the direction of the shell’s opening. If necessary, however, escape movement may occur in the opposite direction. The scallop is adapted to swim even though it is two or three times as dense as seawater. The hinge is elastic and opens the shell rapidly; this action, coupled with rapid and repeated contractions of the adductor muscle, which closes the shell, produces a powerful and nearly continuous water jet. Moreover, the body form of a closed scallop is an airfoil (like a wing, the curvature of its upper surface is greater than that of its lower surface); this shape, combined with the downward ejection of water, produces lift.

Cephalopods (e.g., squids, octopuses) are another group of mollusks that use hydraulic propulsion. Unlike the scallops, they have lost most of their heavy shell and have developed fusiform bodies. The mantle of cephalopods encloses a cavity in which are contained the gills and other internal organs. It also includes, on its ventral surface, a narrow, funnel-shaped opening (siphon) through which water can be forcibly ejected when all the circular muscles surrounding the mantle cavity contract rapidly and simultaneously. This water jet shoots the cephalopod in a direction opposite to that in which the siphon is pointed.

Many invertebrates, particularly elongated ones such as open-sea-dwelling annelids and mollusks, swim by undulatory movements produced by contraction waves that alternate on each side of the body. Although the arrangement of the musculature differs between invertebrates and vertebrates, the mechanics of undulatory swimming are the same in both and are described in the following section.