Planaria is a non-parastic, free-living flatworm, and a member of Phylum Platyhelminthes.

These flatworms are widely distributed over land, sea and fresh waters. Most of them are fresh water form, but marine and terrestrial planarians do exist. They are usually found beneath rocks, logs, or dead leaves in springs, spring brooks, ditches, wetlands, streams, and lakes. Planarians are a somewhat carnivorous type of flatworm, with three branches of digestive cavity. You can find white, grey, brown, black, green, or transparent planarians, which range in size from to 1 inch; however, they can grow to be as big as 2ft. (planarian.org). Some species are able to regrow severed parts of their body. Planarians eat other invertebrates, detritus or decaying organic matter, however some prefer diatoms. Planarians move just like slugs, in an undulating motion. They move by expanding and contracting. (Planarian.org) The structure of a planarian's head makes a vivid triangle with two eyes, which appear cross-eyed upon close inspection, giving Planarians a rather unique expression. These eyes work as photoreceptors, which are sensory receptors that respond to light. They have a nervous system which is made up of a brain (consisting of basal ganglion), lateral nerve cords, and transverse nerves. Planarian is an animal has an "acoelomate body", which means they have no internal cavity to hold organs. They also have no anus, so any undigested food is sent out through the mouth (http:://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982204006815). In fact, the digestive system of Planarians is very simplistic: it consists of a mouth, a pharynx, and a structure called a gastrovascular cavity. The mouth is located in the middle of the underside. Planarians have three branch digestive cavities, and after the pharynx muscle sucks up food, the food moves along the branches within the digestive tract, and any unused food is excremented through its mouth. Planarians can reproduce both sexually and asexually, depending on the conditions. All planarians have both male and female sex organs, on both sides of the organism; therefore, they are hermaphroditic (http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/articles/planarian.html). However, Planarians do not fertilize their own eggs, so sexual reproduction only occurs when there are other Planarians available (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982204006815). To reproduce sexually, the eggs are fertilized and stored in a capsule, called a cocoon. The coccon is attached to a rocks or debris for 2 to 3 weeks (westministercollege.edu). To reproduce asexually, a planarian tears itself in half, then, each half regenerates its missing half of the body (either the tail end or the head end). This process is known as regeneration. Asexual reproduction only happens above 10 degrees celsius. Sexual organs only develop in winter and early spring for some planarians; as water temperatures rise, their reproductive organs degenerate (westministercollege.edu). A planarian goes through cellular differentiation after a part of its body is cut off, a way of regeneration. Once the planarian realized that a part of its body is missing. The cells in its body which are newly forming go through cellular differentiation, where there will be specialized for a specific part of the body. Without this, they could have two heads or tails. A stem cell is a cell which is a unique cell, which can produce itself on its own.