In terms of muscle, striated refers to a type of muscle tissue that is marked by transverse dark and light bands, is made up of elongated usually multinucleated fibers, and includes skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and most muscle of arthropods. This characteristic appearance under a microscope is due to a number of sarcomeres or an array of overlapping thick (myosin) and thin (actin) filaments within each muscle cell. Striated muscles are required for whole-body oxygen supply, metabolic balance, and locomotion. The three main types of striated muscles are skeletal, cardiac, and smooth.