![]() ![]() In this case, they release fatty acids, ammonia, and CO 2 as excretory products. They perform excretion through flame cells, protonephridia or solenocytes.In this case, the true stomach is absent and pharynx opens into a complex intestinal structure. The digestive system is incomplete or absent with no anus.They have an organ-system grade of organization and cephalization.They have a bilaterally symmetrical body with triploblastic and acoelomate.The body is soft and does not contain any cilia.They live free-living or parasitic life.They have dorso-ventrally flattened the un-segmented and tape-like or leaf-like body.General Characteristics of Platyhelminthes The members of this phylum have diverse sizes which range from microscope to 3 feet long. Generally, free-living species live in water and some in shaded, humid terrestrial ecosystems, such as leaf litter. ![]() while the free-living flatworms are scavengers or predators. The parasitic forms cause some trouble to the host animals, feed on host`s tissues and make certain diseases such as Schistosomiasis, or snail fever, Taeniasis, etc. Among them, around 80% live as parasitic life on humans and other animals and few are free-living. But among the acoelomate organisms, the phylum Platyhelminthes constitutes the largest phylum with more than about 20,000 known species throughout the world. The Phylum Platyhelminthes makes up the 4th largest phylum among the animal kingdom. They are simple soft-bodied, bilaterian, unsegmented invertebrate animals. The word ‘Platyhelminthes’ is derived from the Greek word, ‘ platy’ meaning flat and ‘ helminth’ meaning worm. The representatives of the phylum Platyhelminthes are commonly known as the flatworms or tapeworms.
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