PHYLUM

ANNELIDA
- SEGMENTED WORMS
Introduction
 The name of the phylum is derived from the Latin word annellus, which means a small ring.
 Phylum Annelida includes segmented worms.
 They are found in marine, terrestrial, and freshwater habitats, but a presence of water or humidity
is a critical factor for their survival, especially in terrestrial habitats.
 Animals in this phylum show parasitic and commensal symbioses with other species in their
habitat.
 Elongate and bilateral with segmented true body cavity
ANNELIDA CHARACTERISTICS
The Annelids are coelomate and triploblastic.
They exhibit organ system level organization.
Their body is segmented.
They respire through their body surface.
Nephridia are the excretory organs.
They have a well-developed circulatory and digestive system.
Their body contains hemoglobin, which gives them a red color.
Regeneration is a very common characteristic of the Annelids.
Setae help them in movement.
Most of the Annelids are hermaphrodite, i.e., male and female organs are present in the same
body. They reproduce both sexually and asexually. The others reproduce sexually.
Structure of Phylum
Annelida
  a body cavity (or coelom),
movable bristles (or setae),
and a body divided into
segments by transverse rings,
or annulations, from which they
take their name.
Reproduction
 They generally reproduce sexually by cross-
fertilization and are often hermaphroditic,
but many reproduce asexually by budding.
 In some species, the same
individual produces both sperm and eggs. But
worms mate to exchange sperm, rather
than self-fertilizing their own eggs. Fertilized
eggs are deposited in a mucous cocoon.
Offspring emerge from the cocoon looking like
small adults. They grow to adult size without
going through a larval stage.
ANNELIDA CLASSIFICATIONS
 Since the organism is long, brown and bilaterally symmetrical, with a
segmented body, it can be classified under phylum Annelida. The
distinguishing characteristic is the segmented body. And Annelids also live
in moist terrestrial areas.
Class:
 Polychaeta
- Polychaeta is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms,
commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes.
  Archiannelida
- minute annelids that live in the spaces between grains of 
marine sediment, were treated as a separate class because of their
simple body structure, but are now regarded as polychaetes.
 Clitellates
- These have few or no chetae per segment, and no nuchal organs or
parapodia. However, they have a unique reproductive organ, the ring-
shaped clitellum ("pack saddle") around their bodies, which produces a 
cocoon that stores and nourishes fertilized eggs until they hatch [10][12] or, in
moniligastrids, yolky eggs that provide nutrition for the embryos.
 The clitellates are sub-divided into:
 Oligochaeta
- Oligochaeta is a subclass of animals in the phylum Annelida, which is
made up of many types of aquatic and terrestrial worms, including all of the
various earthworms.
 Hirudenia
- Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the
subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the
oligochaetes, which include the earthworm, and like them have soft, muscular
segmented bodies that can lengthen and contract.
IMPORTANCE :
 Burrowing annelids, like the earthworm, play an important role in helping
organic matter decompose. Earthworms eat dead plants and animals. When
they eat, they also take in soil and tiny pebbles. Earthworms take in nutrients
from microorganisms in the material they ingest.
 They are a source of food for many birds, mammals, and other
invertebrates. Other annelids, such as the lugworms of the class Polychaetae,
contribute to human food sources as well. We use these species as bait to catch
fish.
Earthworm
Kingdom: Animalia
Class: Oligochaeta
Scientific Name: Lumbricus terrestris
Common Name: Earthworm
Habitat: moist soil and dead plant
material.
Earthworms for Medicine
 Earthworms are used in a variety of ways and utilized
to treat a number of diseases, such as bladder stones,
jaundice, and alopecia 

 They possess anticonvulsant and analgesic

properties useful for treating seizures, rheumatic
pain and the after-effects of stroke (hemiplegia).
Leeches
Kingdom: Animalia
Class: Clitellata
Scientific name: Hirudinea
Common name: Leeches
Habitat: shallow, protected waters,
concealed among aquatic plants or under
stones, logs and other debris
Leech Therapy
 Leeches produce an anticoagulant and
literally suck blood from the surface of skin,
they are often used to revive delicate veins
and improve blood flow following a tissue
reattachment procedure.
Sand Worm
Kingdom: Animalia
Class: Polychaeta
Scientific Name: Alitta Virens [formerly
Nereis Virens]
Common Name: Sand worm
Habitat: Every ocean habitat from warm
tropical seas to cold polar waters.
 Sandworm for Medicine
 Scientists have copied the natural glue secreted by a tiny sea
creature called the sandcastle worm in an effort to develop a
long-sought medical adhesive needed to repair bones shattered in
battlefield injuries, car crashes and other accidents.
 Stewart has begun pilot studies focused on delivering bioactive
molecules in the adhesive that could allow it to fix bone
fragments and deliver medicines to the fracture site, such as
antibiotics, pain relievers or compounds that might accelerate
healing
Bristle Worm
Kingdom: Animalia
Class: Polychaeta
Scientific Name: Polychaeta
Common Name: Bristle worm
Habitat: Bristle worms inhabit many habitats:
they live on land among leaf litter or within
rotting wood, under the bark of dead trees, or
among epiphytes on wet rocks; in freshwater
and saltwater.
 Facts!
 Bristle worms are one of the most
dangerous species of worms.
 Shortly after mating, marine bristle worms
die, leaving thousands of newly fertilized
eggs to develop in the water. 
Following questions:
1. As to the body, how can you differentiate a round worm from a segmented worm?
 Segmented worms have a complete circulatory system, while round worms do not. A
segmented worm's circulatory system includes blood, heart, capillary system and hemoglobin.
Roundworms have no hearts or blood vessels. Roundworms use diffusion to breathe and pass
nutrients throughout their bodies.
2. How would you compare the body segmentation of an earthworm with that of a tapeworm?
 Adult tapeworms may measure 4-28 inches in length, The adult tapeworm is made up of many small
segments, called proglottids while the earthworm is made of about 100-150 segments.
3. How would you differentiate free-living worms from parasitic worms?
  Free-living nematodes feed on organisms in their environment. Parasitic types feed off of a host
and some also live within the host.
4. What makes earthworms a very ideal specimen for laboratory use among all other segmented
worms?
 An earthworm has a simple anatomy, so dissecting a specimen is not a complicated process, like
most annelids, the internal organs of an earthworm are clearly recognizable.
Quiz:
1. It is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms,
commonly called bristle worms.
2. ___ segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the
subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida.
3. The name of the phylum is derived from the Latin word _____ which means a
small ring.
4. They are found in marine, terrestrial, and freshwater habitats, but a presence
of water or humidity is a critical factor for their survival, especially in
terrestrial habitats.
5. ___ are one of the most dangerous species of worms.
ANSWER:
1. Polychaeta
2. Leeches
3. Annellus
4. Phylum Annelida / Annelida
5. Bristle worms
A novel member of the innexin family (cv-inx) has been isolated from the annelid
polychaete worm Chaetopterus variopedatus using a PCR approach on genomic
DNA and sequence analysis on genomic DNA clones. The gene is present in a
HindIII-HindIII segment of 2250 bp containing an uninterrupted open reading frame
of 1196 bp encoding a protein of 399 amino acids.

References:
Potenza, Nicoletta
del Gaudio, Rosanna
Rivieccio, Loredana
Russo, Giuseppina Maria Rosaria
Geraci, Giuseppe

Journal of Molecular Evolution. Mar2002, Vol. 54 Issue 3, p312-321. 10p.

Presented by: GROUP 6

Argen A. Chavenia
Janine Lara