Phalangi

From Star Trek Freedom's Wiki

Phalangi are muscular hydrostats resembling cilia that grow and develop on the underside of the Horta species and act as feet.

They are used to manipulate items (including food) or to move its host about and consists mainly of silicone based muscles with no skeletal support. It performs its hydraulic movement without fluid in a separate compartment, as in a hydrostatic skeleton. The principle behind the hydrostatic skeleton is that water is effectively incompressible at physiological pressures. Thus, a fiber-wound chamber full of liquid will act as a constant-volume system. What makes the muscular hydrostat unique is that it relies on the same principle, but there is no liquid-filled cavity. Instead, the bulk of the organ is made up of a silicon-based muscular structure, which also has constant volume and is effectively incompressible, its main material being a thick Silone semi-solid. Thus, instead of a cylinder wrapped with muscle and connective tissue that changes its shape, a muscular hydrostat is a cylinder made of muscle. These Phalangi are of various lengths ranging from approximately 0.05–2.0 meters and are located on the underside of the Horta's body.

These are primarily motile cilia, which are capable of moving in a single direction as dictated by the Horta. Because of the speed and flexibility of these phalangi, the Horta is capable of incredible maneuverability.

In addition to being used for locomotion, several of the Phalangi are flexible and dexterous enough that they are cap