Phylum Platyhelminthes

Phylum Platyhelminthes
20,000 species.
Bilateral symmetry.
Flattened dorso-ventrally.
Triploblastic.
Phylum Platyhelminthes
Small flatworms with no permanent gut cavity.
Free-living, marine and brackish water.
Class Turbellaria
Order Acoela
Phylum Platyhelminthes
Class Turbellaria
Order Acoela
Order Tricladida
Gut with three branches.
Marine, freshwater, and
terrestrial.
Phylum Platyhelminthes
Class Turbellaria
Order Acoela
Order Tricladida
Order Polycladida
Gut with many branches.
Large marine flatworms.
Often brightly colored.
Phylum Platyhelminthes
Class Turbellaria
Order Acoela
Order Tricladida
Order Polycladida
Class Monogenea
Monogenetic flukes.
Most are ectoparasites.
Hooks on both ends to attach to host.
Phylum Platyhelminthes
Class Turbellaria
Order Acoela
Order Tricladida
Order Polycladida
Class Monogenea
Class Trematoda
Digenetic flukes.
Most are endoparasites.
Suckers to attach to hosts.
Phylum Platyhelminthes
Class Turbellaria
Order Acoela
Order Tricladida
Order Polycladida
Class Monogenea
Class Trematoda
Class Cestoda
Tapeworms.
Endoparasites.
No digestive tract.
Turbellarians
What do they look like?
Fig. 2
Head region with a cerebral ganglion
and sense organs.
Elaborate reproductive systems:
simultaneous hermaphrodites.
Protonephridia for osmoregulation in
freshwater species.
Muscular system allows for complex
movements.
Turbellarians
What do they look like?
Ciliated epidermis.
Basement membrane adds support.
Muscular antagonistic system.
Rhabdites in mesenchyme produce rhabdoids.
Fig. 5
Turbellarians
How do they support themselves and locomote?
Fig. 18
Hydrostatic mesenchyme
and muscular
antagonistic system.
Crawl using cilia and
mucus secretion.
Nerves can be ladder-like
with a cerebral
ganglion.
Turbellarians
How do they support themselves and locomote?
Fig. 18
Sense organs: tactile, chemical, water flow,
light, orientation in space.
Turbellarians
How do they feed themselves?
Fig. 11
Carnivorous or scavengers.
Pharynx simple or complex.
Complex are eversible.
acoels
triclads
polyclads
Turbellarians
How do they feed themselves?
Fig. 13
Gut simple or complex.
Partially digested food transferred throughout gut then taken
up by gastrodermis.
acoels
rhabdocoels triclads polyclads
Turbellarians
How do they osmoregulate?
Protonephridia in freshwater
species.
Fluid drawn into flame bulbs,
ions reabsorbed water
excreted, fluid leaves
through nephridiopores.
Fig. 16
Turbellarians
How do they reproduce and develop?
Asexual reproduction.
Transverse fission.
Able to regenerate lost body parts.
Fig. 21
Turbellarians
How do they reproduce and develop?
Sexual reproduction
Simultaneous hermaphrodites:
Fig. 22
Male structures: testes drain into sperm ducts which leads to a
seminal vesicle for sperm storage. Prostatic glands supply
seminal fluid. Cirrus (or penis) for sperm transfer.
Turbellarians
How do they reproduce and develop?
Sexual reproduction
Simultaneous hermaphrodites:
Fig. 22
Female structures: germovitellarium produces eggs and yolk
together (endolecithal eggs). In others, eggs produced in ovary
and yolk added later by yolk gland (ectolecithal eggs). Female
atrium often has seminal receptacles or copulatory bursa to
store received sperm.
Turbellarians
How do they reproduce and develop?
Simultaneous transfer of sperm.
Zygotes either retained in adult uterus or laid in encapsulated eggs.
Fig. 23
Turbellarians
How do they reproduce and develop?
Some turbellarians have indirect development
that includes Mullers larva.
Fig. 26
Spiral cleavage, stereoblastula,
gastrulation by epiboly,
determinate development.
Fig. 24
Monogenea and Trematoda
What do they look like?
Fig. 3
Monogenetic fluke
Digenetic fluke
Endo- and ectoparasites.
Oval or leaf shaped with external
attachment structures.
Simultaneous hermaphrodites.
Monogenea and Trematoda
What do they look like?
Fig. 7
Tegument provides protection and
aids in gas exchange.
No cilia. Move using muscular action.
Monogenea and Trematoda
How do they move and adhere?
Fig. 8
Monogenetic flukes have
attachment organs at both ends.
Prohaptor at oral end with
suckers, opisthaptor at hind end
with barbed suckers.
Monogenea and Trematoda
How do they move and adhere?
Digenetic fluke
Digenetic flukes have an oral
sucker at oral end and an
acetabulum on ventral surface.
Ladder-like nervous system.
Suckers have tactile sensors.
Monogenea and Trematoda
How do they feed themselves?
Feed on host tissues by
pumping of muscular
pharynx.
Gut with two cecae lined
with cells for nutrient
uptake.
Monogenetic fluke
Digenetic fluke
Monogenea and Trematoda
How do they osmoregulate?
Same basic structure as
Turbellarians.
Digenetic flukes have slightly
different configuration of
plumbing.
Fig. 15
Monogenea and Trematoda
How do they reproduce and develop?
Fig. 28
Simultaneous hermaphrodites with
mutual cross fertilization.
Eggs are ectolecithal and can be
brooded for long time.
Indirect development with one or
more free living larval stages.
Monogenea and Trematoda
How do they reproduce and develop?
Fig. 29
Fig. 30
Monogentic flukes have one host.
Adult releases encapsulated embryos which hatch into
the first larval stage (oncomiracidium). They are
ciliated and swim until they locate another host.
Larva metamorphoses into a juvenile fluke.
Monogenea and Trematoda
How do they reproduce and develop?
Fig. 31
Digenetic flukes have more than
one host.
Eggs produced by adults in
definitive host.
Eggs eaten by intermediate host or
hatch into free-swimming larva
called miracidia which actively
penetrates intermediate host.
Several asexual generations of
larvae are produced which finally
produce afree-swimming larva
called a cercaria. They encyst
into a metacercaria.
Metacercaria are consumed by the
definitive host.
Cestodes
What do they look like?
Fig. 4
A scolex attaches them to the inside
of their host followed by a neck
and a strobila (long segmented
trunk).
Individual segments are proglottids.
Cestodes
What do they look like?
Fig. 7
Tegument has microscopic folds
(microtriches) to increase surface
area.
Microtriches interdigitate with host
villi to aid nutrient absorption.
Cestodes
How do they adhere and move?
Fig. 9
Dont move much. Adhere with
scolex aided by microtriches.
Scolex is well innervated.
Longitudinal nerve cords run
down length of animal.
Cestodes
How do they feed themselves?
Fig. 7
No gut. Nutrient uptake (both
pinocytosis and diffusion) across
tegument with microtriches.
Cestodes
How do they osmoregulate?
Protonephridia with long
excretory ducts leading to
an opening in the posterior
proglottid.
Cestodes
How do they reproduce and develop?
Fig. 4
Simultaneous hermaphrodite with
mutual cross-fertilization. Can
self-fertilize.
Cestodes
How do they reproduce and develop?
Fig. 32
Complete male and female structures in each proglottid.
Eggs are fertilized and stored in uterus which expands
to fill proglottid.
Proglottids break free and are excreted with host feces.
Cestodes
How do they reproduce and develop?
Fig. 33
Usually involves
more than one
host. Variable life
cycles.
Proglottid drops off
and is excreted by
definitive host.
zygotes develop in
environment.
Zygote is ingested by
second host and it
encysts in tissues
which are
consumed by the
definitive host.