The six great curved arms that rise above and descend below Deep Space 9's docking ring, giving the station its claw-like outline and providing berths for the largest visiting starships.
Deep Space 9 has three upper and three lower docking pylons, sweeping inwards from the docking ring towards the station's axis. Each ends in a docking port, and the largest visiting ships, too big for the ports of the docking ring, are generally shown moored at them.
The pylons are thinly populated and far from the Promenade, which makes them useful for private meetings. Characters are often sent to check a fault on one of the upper pylons, usually at an inconvenient moment.
The same arrangement is seen on the station's abandoned sister, Empok Nor, in the episode of that name, since both were built to one Cardassian pattern, and on the mirror universe's Terok Nor in Crossover.