Unit 6: Platyhelminthes
Features of Phylum Platyhelminthes:
Body bilaterally symmetrical and dorsoventrally flattened.
They are triploblastic acoelomate, animals, having organ systems that occur in the middle layer.
Mainly soft-bodied but with protective mucous secretions and a few species with internal spicules.
Digestive system has a single opening or mouth, that leads to a well-developed gastro-vascular cavity.
Anus absent.
Circulatory and respiratory organs are absent.
Gaseous exchange by diffusion. Proto-nephridial ‘excretory’ organ and its function is probably largely
osmoregulatory than excretory.
True excretory products leave the body mainly by diffusion. Nervous system consists of nerve nets which
are usually concentrated in longitudinal fibres.
Typically, they bear anterior eyespots, chemoreceptive organs and a rudimentary brain.
Generally hermaphrodite.
Sperm is filiform and thread like. Cleavage is spiral. In free-living forms development is generally direct
(in some there is a free- swimming Muller’s or Gotte’s larva).
Development in some parasitic forms is very elaborate, involving several larval stages. Occurs in all major
habitats, aquatic and terrestrial, including the tissues of other animals.
Basis of Classification:
Platyhelminthes or flatworms are a diverse group comprising of 25000 living species that show evolutionary
achievements over the diplo-blasts in having a structural body plan that is based on bilateral symmetry and in
having definite organs or system of organs. The classification scheme followed is that of Ruppert and Barnes, 1994
(6th edn.).
Class :- Turbellaria
Characters :-
Turbellarians are mainly free-living and aquatic (majority marine, few fresh water), but there are some
terrestrial species also confined to humid areas. Aquatic forms are benthic.
Body size ranges from a few mm to 50 cm. An acoelomate grade of body construction present with a low
level of cephalization.
Most turbellarians move by cilia (lining the epidermis), which provide the propulsive force; larger forms
(poly- clads) are markedly flattened and move by combine ciliary motion with muscular undulations.
Mucus produced from the gland cells, lubricates and protects the body surface, provides leverage for the
cilia and is used in the capture of food by entangling the prey.
Digestion is initially extracellular and then intracellular.
Most turbellarians are predators and scavengers while a few are herbivores, commensals or parasites.
Excretion by protonephridia.
Several pairs of longitudinal nerve cord are radially arranged and associated with peripheral nerve nets.
Numerous pigment cup, ocelli and statocysts are the principal sensory organs.
Hermaphrodite, with internal fertilization. Cleavage is spiral and development is direct in most species.
Many turbellarians also reproduce asexually by means of budding or transverse fission and show high
power of regeneration.
Example: Ectocotyla (commensal on hermit crab), Planeria (fresh water flat worm), Anaperus (marine flat worm),
Gyratrix (marine interstitial species), Stenostomum (fresh water species), Bipalium (land planarian) ,Bdelloura
(horse-shoe crab, commensal), Dugesia (fresh water).
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Class :- Trematoda
Characters :-
All are parasites, occurring especially in vertebrates.
Body cylindrical or leaf shaped.
Rhabdites or cilia are absent.
Body is covered by cuticle, which provides protection against hosts enzyme- action and defence
mechanism.
Suckers and acetabulum present for attachment. Mouth is anteriorly situated.
A well-developed gut is present.
In most cases the testes are two but always one ovary is present. Reproduction is always sexual.
Example- Schistosoma, Fasciola, Clonorchis, Opistorchis, Paragonimus, Cotyaspis, Aspido- gaster.
This class is further subdivided into two sub classes
1. Digenea- Schistosoma, Fasciola, Clonorchis
2. Aspidogastrea - Cotyaspis, Aspido- gaster
Class :- Cestoidea
Characters :-
Endoparasitic helminth, whose body is covered by a syncytial tegument.
Cestoideans have special tegumental modifications associated with nutrient uptake as they lack a mouth
and digestive tract.
Organs of attachment in the form of hooks and suckers are present.
Absence of sense organs.
Each segment excepting the head and neck is provided with one or two sets of complete sex organs.
Hermaphrodite. Life cycle is complicated and involves a larval stage.
Examples- Taenia solium (pork tape worm), Taenia saginatus (beef tape worm), Echinococcus granulosus (hook
worm),’ Diphyllobothrium (parasite in the gut of many fish-eating- carnivores), Echinobothrium (parasite in
elasmobranch fishes), Proteocephalus (parasite in the intestine of fish, amphibia and reptile), Amphibian (parasite
in sturgeon fish), Gyrocotyle (parasite in chimaeroid fish).
Class :- Monogenea
Characters :-
Monogeneans are mostly ectoparasites of aquatic vertebrates, particularly fishes, but amphibians, reptiles
and cephalopod molluscs are also hosts.
Body dorsoventrally flattened and have a large, posterior attachment organ, the haptor, which bears hooks
and suckers. Anterior end has also adhesive glands.
A gut is present -but mouth lacks a sucker. The pharynx secretes a protease that digests the host’s skin.
They respire aerobically, being ectoparasites.
Monogeneans have inconspicuous proto- nephridia for excretion.
All members are hermaphrodite.
Life cycle simple and having no intermediate host. One egg by way of a ciliate larva (Oncomiracidium)
gives rise to only one adult worm and hence the name monogenea meaning “one generation”.
Examples: Poly stoma (bladder of frogs), Polystomoidella (Urinary bladder of turtles), Dactylogyrus (gills of
freshwater fishes).
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