Republic of the Philippines

CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE

F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

ZOOLOGY

LESSON 8. PHYLUM PLATYHELMINTHES

Learning Objectives:

 Learn what flatworms are and what kind of symmetry they exhibit;
 Identify the characteristics of flatworms; and
 Distinguish between free-living and parasitic organisms

INTRODUCTION
The phylum platyhelminthes comes from the Greek word “platys” which means flat and
“helmints”, worm. This phylum contains almost 34 000 animal species. Organisms belonging to
this phylum has no coelom, thus, they are referred as acoelomate animals.

PHYLUM PLATYHELMINTHES

 Commonly known as flatworms.

 They are a group of soft-bodied invertebrate animals.
 Organisms under this phylum have bilateral symmetry, wherein an animal with this form has
a dorsal and ventral surface, right and left side and an anterior and posterior end.
 Concentration receptors (receivers of stimuli) and nerves at the anterior end is called
cephalization.
o Cephalization – allows organisms to respond to stimuli from the environment it is
entering.
o Sense organs receiving chemical stimuli allow an organism to seek an area in which
food is present and turn away if unfavorable situation arises.
 Around eighty percent of the flatworms are parasitic in nature, while a few free-form
flatworms are also present.
 The free-living forms are scavengers or predators. The parasitic species feed on the tissues
of the host organism in which they live.

General Characteristics
1. Usually flattened dorsoventrally, triploblastic, acoelomate, bilaterally symmetrical.
2. Unsegmented worms (members of the class Cestoidea are strobilated)
3. Incomplete gut usually present (gut absent cestoidean)
4. Somewhat cephalized, with an anterior cerebral ganglion and often longitudinal nerve
cords
5. Protonephridia serve in osmoregulation and excretion
 Photonephridia are networks of fine tubules that run the length of the
turbellarian, along each of its sides.
6. Monoecious with internal fertilization, symbiotic species with complex life cycles; and
7. Nervous tissues form a pair of anterior ganglia and paired interconnected longitudinal
nerves.

Four Classes
1. Class Turbellaria
2. Class Monogenea
3. Class Trematoda
4. Class Cestoda
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CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

CLASS TURBELLARIA
 From Latin turbellae, a commotion + aria, like
 Mostly free-living bottom dwellers in freshwater and marine environments, where they
crawl on stones, sand, or vegetation.
 Turbellarians are named for the turbulence that their beating cilia create in the wayer.
 These organisms are predators and scavengers and exhibit variety of colors ranging
from brown and black to blue and green etc.
 Some species of turbellaria are terrestrial, but they live in moist places.
PLANARIA
 Most common example of turbellaria.
 Aquatic planarians are small, usually less than one centimeter (0.4in) long.
 The nervous system of planarians
is composed of two longitudinal
nerves that run along either side of
the body near the ventral surface.
o These are connected by
transverse nerves, giving the
nervous system a ladderlike
appearance.
o A concentration of nerves in
the anterior end, underneath
the eye-spots, forms a pair of
ganglia which serve as the
“brain” for the coordination of
the animal’s activities.
 There are two eyespots where the
planaria earned its name “the cross-eyed worm”.
o These cup-shaped organs contain pigmented cells with nerves connecting them
to the brain.
o These eyespots are photosensitive, although the animal cannot actually see
images; it can determine the direction from which the light is coming from.
 There are also chemical receptors found in the anterior end which are responsible for
taste, smell and touch. Some of these are also found in different parts of the body.
o These receptors are mainly connected to the longitudinal nerves of the animal.
 The muscular system of planarian is of mesodermal origin.
o It is consist of three layers of muscle fibers beneath the epidermis:
 Circular layer
 Longitudinal layer
 Oblique layer (which runs at an angle to the other two layers)
o This is why planarians can stretch/ lengthen or shorten or even twist the body as
it moves.
 Planarians moves in two different ways: the anterior end moves from side
to side and the whole body also moves forward in a gliding motion which
is caused by the beating of cilia on the surface.
 The digestive system is located in the gut.
o It is consists of the mouth, pharynx and intestine.
 The mouth is the only opening (planarians don’t have anus) which is
located in the ventral surface of the planaria
 The phrarynx is a tube that is extended through the mouth. This sucks up
microscopic particles, including tiny organisms, they also scavenge on
organic matter.
 The food is drawn into the digestive cavity by way of pharynx and enters
the intestine where it will be digested through the enzymes secreted by
the lining cells.
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CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

 Phagocytosis may also be perform by the lining cells and be taken into
food vacuole where it will be digested.
 Sometimes, planarians may attach itself to the prey and secrete
enzymes that partially digest the tissue of the prey making it
easier for the organisms to suck into the digestive cavity.
 Undigested food particles are secreted out through the mouth as
well.
 The organs for secretions are flame cells,
tubules and excretory pores.
o The water enters the cells of a planaria
by osmosis.
o Flame cells collect excess water and
cellular wastes.
o These liquid wastes leave the tubules
through excretory pores that are
connected from the flame cells to the
surface of the body of the planaria.
 Planarians have the ability to regenerate
missing parts or can grow into complete new
worms.
 They are hermaphroditic, which means each
animal has both male and female reproductive
organs, thus cross fertilization may occur.
o Eggs are shed into capsules in pile of
rocks or twigs in the water and hatch in
two to three weeks.

CLASS MONOGENEA
 Group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the
skin, gills, or fins of fish.
o Ectoparasitic are organisms that live primarily on the
surface of the host (external parasites).
A large posterior attachment organ called opisthaptor
facilitates attachment.
 Adult monogeneans produce and release eggs to the fill gill
and eventually, a ciliated larva called oncomiracidium
hatches from the egg and swims to another host fish, where
it attaches by its opisthaptor and develops into an adult.

CLASS TREMATODA
 Approximately 10 000 species of parasitic flatworms in this class are collectively called
flukes, which describes their wide, flat shape.
 These organisms have female and male reproductive organs in the same individual, and
with an incomplete digestive tract.
 Flukes are parasites that are found in many animals, including humans.
 They have thick teguments and one or more suckers for clinging to the tissues of the
host.
 An anterior sucker surrounds the mouth which opens to a short pharynx.
 Fluke’s nervous system is similar to the planarian, however, does not have sense
organs.
 These organisms have developed reproductive system and are hermaphroditic.
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CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

o Flukes have uterus, which is a long coiled tube where eggs are stored.
o Once the eggs are ready to be released, it will be discharged through the genital
pore.

LIFE CYCLE OF FLUKES (liver flukes)

- The figure shows sheep liver fluke’s life cycle which starts at the liver of a sheep as adult
flatworms which usually thrive in the liver and gallbladder of the animal.
- Its eggs pass from the gall bladder to the intestine and secreted out. If these eggs fall
into water outside the sheep’s body, it will hatch into larvae (miracidium) after 9 – 10
days in an ideal condition.
- As snail is an intermediate host of the sheep liver fluke, this means that the larvae
derived its nourishment from another host different from the adult’s host.
- While in the snail, the larvae reproduce asexually.
- They leave the body of the snail and climb blades of grass at the water’s edge where
they form cyts.
o A cyst is a body formed when the larva secretes a hard covering around itself.
- The cysts maybe taken in by the sheep, the flukes come out of the cysts.
- Once the flukes reach the intestinal wall of the sheep, it enters the bloodstream and
reaches the liver and the cycle starts again.

BLOOD FLUKES

- Blood flukes, Schistosoma, cause one of the major diseases of the world wherein more
than 200 million people are infested with this parasite.
- These flukes live in the bloodstream of humans.
- Their eggs have sharp spines that damage host’s tissues.
- The life cycle of this organism is the same as that of the sheep liver flukes, which uses
intermediate host like snails in their larval stage.
- Humans then can be infected by swimming in or drinking water that contains larvae of
this organism.

CLASS CESTODA

- These are the tapeworms

- Tapeworms are the best-known parasitic flatworms
- An adult tapeworm has a flat, ribbonlike body that is grayish white.
- These organisms don’t have organs of locomotion or a digestive system.
 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

- The knob shaped head is known as the scolex which has suckers (some species have
rings and hooks surrounding the scolex) which is usually used to attach themselves to
intestinal walls and absorbed through he tapeworm’s body.

- Below its slender neck, a

tapeworms body is consists of
square sections called
proglottids.
- A tapeworm may grow up
to ten meters long or almost 33 ft
wherein it grows by adding new
sections behind the scolex. Thus
the oldest ones are at the
posterior ends, while the
immature/new proglottids are
near its neck.
- Each proglottids contains
both male and female
reproductive organs, therefore,
cross-fertilization occurs, but self-fertilization is also possible.
- The eggs then are fertilized in the proglottids, it then breaks off from the tapeworm’s
body and secreted out along with the feces.
- It may be eaten by cow or pigs and be contaminated.
- Once inside the new host body, eggs hatch into larvae that burrow into the muscles and
form cysts.
- Tapeworm enters human body when meat from an infected animal is eaten.
o Cooking meat thoroughly before eating kills the cysts.
o Each cyst contains a fully developed scolex, when the cysts reach the intestine,
the scolex emerges and attaches itself to the intestinal wall and begins to grow.
- Since tapeworms take nutrients from their host, the host’s body losses weight and
energy.

References:

Miller, S. A. & Tupper, T. A. 2019. Zoology 11th edition

Otto, J. H. & Towle, A. 1985. Modern Biology