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Eukarya
G
Animalia


Platyhelminthes (or Plathelminthes)
Turbellaria (non-parasitic)
Cestoda (parasitic)
Trematoda (parasitic)
Monogenea (parasitic)
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The name ͞Platyhelminthes͟ came from the Greek

words ë
 meaning ͞flat͟ and   meaning
͞worm͟.

Flatworms are
 ust like other animals.

 -à 

à


[es, bilateral
à
No
 None (invertebrates)
   

[es


3 (triploblastic)
 

None (acoelomate)
Circulatory and respiratory organs are absent
 Y
 

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They eat small animals including crustaceans and insects, alive or dead. Their mouth is a
small hole found halfway down the underside of their body. They can sense when food is
around, because of sensory cells on their head. They extend a muscular tube out of their
mouth, and suck up food. This tube is known as a ͞pharynx͟. If the animal is small, it will be
swallowed whole. If its prey food is large, then the flatworm will cover it with slime, then
suck off a bit at a time. Food is digested in the animal͛s gut, and waste material is excreted
through the mouth.

„ 
They have a very thin skin which can absorb oxygen and release waste gases through it.
Being flat increases the area of skin exposed to the water, improving the flatworm͛s oxygen
intake.
 Y
 

 
They have a gastrovascular cavity with one opening. It eats small worms, insects and
microscopic matter.

  
Food and solid wastes enter and leave through a common opening in the
well-developed digestive tract, which consists of a mouth, pharynx, and gastrovascular
cavity.

„  
Flatworms have a cephalized nervous system (they are the simplest animals to have one).
Two cordlike nerves branch repeatedly in an array resembling a ladder. They have two
simple brains called , which are simple bundles of nerves. They have two eyespots
which help them sense light.
 Y
 

› 

The surface of their bodies are covered with cilia which are kept in constant motion,
allowing them to glide. They secrete slime which acts as a lubricant.

„  
Flatworms can reproduce either asexuallyͶregenerating an entirely new body form ust a
tiny fragment of themselvesͶor sexuallyͶflatworms release the cocoon from their bodies,
and hatch into miniature versions of their parents.
Flatworms͛ mating process is called where two hermaphrodite flatworms
fight over who will bear the egg. They have two penises on the underside of their body, and
each flatworm try to inect sperm anywhere on the skin of its opponent. The one who
loses will bear the burden of motherhood.
 ?


Õ Flatworms can be found in marine and freshwater.
Õ Flatworms are eaten by leeches, great diving beetles, and
great water boatmen.
Õ A flatworm can be microscopic or many feet long and is
generally very thin.
Õ When flatworms sense light, they usually try to get away
from it. They prefer dark places (in most cases).
Õ A famous example of a flatworm is the  
which is
parasitic. Another example of a flatworm is the 
which is non-parasitic.
Õ There is a diet in the US called ͞ 
.
Tapeworm
Planaria
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