Kingdom Animalia

Clade Lophotrochozoa Phylum Platyhelminthes (Flatworms)

Clade Lophotrochozoa
The clade Lophotrochozoa was

identified by molecular data Some develop a lophophore for feeding, others pass through a trochophore larval stage, and a few have neither feature Lophotrochozoa includes the flatworms, rotifers, ectoprocts, brachiopods, molluscs, and annelids

Flatworms
Members of phylum Platyhelminthes live

in marine, freshwater, and damp terrestrial habitats Although flatworms undergo triploblastic development, they are acoelomates They are flattened dorsoventrally and have a gastrovascular cavity with one opening Gas exchange takes place across the surface, and protonephridia regulate

Flatworms are divided into two lineages

Catenulida, or chain worms, reproduce

asexually by budding Rhabditophora are more diverse and include both free-living and parasitic species

Flatworms are divided into three classes

The mostly free-living Turbellaria include the planarian, Dugesia; these are found in the oceans, in fresh water, and in moist terrestrial habitats, and a few are parasitic. The Trematoda, or flukes, are all parasitic, and have complex life cycles specialized for parasitism in animal tissues. The Cestoda, or tapeworms, are intestinal parasites in vertebrates, and they also show

Class Turbellaria
The best-known rhabditophorans are planarians Planarians live in fresh water and prey on smaller

animals Planarians have light-sensitive eyespots and centralized nerve nets The planarian nervous system is more complex and centralized than the nerve nets of cnidarians Planarians are hermaphrodites and can reproduce sexually, or asexually through fission

Pharynx Gastrovascular cavity

Gastrovascular cavity

Mouth

Eyespots Ventral nerve cords Ganglia

Dugesia (Planaria)

Class Trematoda
Trematodes parasitize a wide range of hosts, and

most species have complex life cycles with alternating sexual and asexual stages. Many trematodes require an intermediate host in which the larvae develop before infecting the final hosts (usually a vertebrate) where the adult worm lives. The blood fluke Schistosoma causes schistosomiasis, a disease that infects 200 million people, leading to pain, anemia, and dysentery. The intermediate host for Schistosoma is a snail. Larval stages of some medically important species include miracidium, redia, cercaria, and

Class Trematoda
Cecaria Redia

Fasciola hepatica

Fasciola hepatica

Clonorchis sinensis

Class Cestoda
Tapeworms are a large and diverse group of

parasitic rhabditophorans, with adults that live mostly in vertebrates, including humans. Suckers and hooks on the anterior end, or scolex, anchor the tapeworm in the digestive tract of the host. Tapeworms lack a mouth and gastrovascular cavity, and absorb food from their hosts across their body surface. A long series of proglottids, sacs of sex organs, lie posterior to the scolex. Mature proglottids, loaded with thousands of fertilized eggs, are released from the posterior

Taenia pisiformis
100 m

Hooks Sucker

Proglottids with reproductive structures

Scolex

Tapeworm Mature Proglottid

Lab Instructions: View all organisms listed in the chart above in the microscope, stereoscope, preserved or on the observation tray. Draw each organism in your lab notebook and note the distinguishable characteristics of each. Review internal anatomy of each organism. Organism (Scientific Common Name Name) Dugesia (sl) Planaria Clonorchis sinensis (sl) & Chinese Liver (sp) Fluke Fasciola hepatica (sl) & (sp) Sheep Liver Fluke Taenia pisiformis (sl) & (sp) Tapeworm Trematoda redia, cercaria Trematoda, cercaria Taenia immature proglottids Taenia mature proglottids Class Turbellaria Trematoda Trematoda Cestoda