PHYLUM

PLATYHELMINTHES
Phylum
Platyhelminthes
• The simplest animals that are bilaterally symmetrical.

• They are free living or parasitic.

• First animals with 3 germ layer, triploblastic:

• Ectodermis
• Mesodermis
• Endodermis

• Phylum Platylhelminthes represents all flatworms in the

kingdom Animalia
Phylum
Platyhelminthes
• Phylum Platyhelminthes belongs to kingdom Animalia. This
phylum includes 13,000 species. These are acoelomates and
they include many free-living and parasitic life forms.

• Members of this phylum range in size from a single-celled

organism to around 2-3 feet long.

• Phylum Platyhelminthes includes the flatworms, of which four

classes, turbellaria, monogenean, trematodes and cestodes,
are all parasitic to humans.
THE FOUR CLASSES OF PHYLUS PLATEHYLMINTHES

TURBELARIAN MONOGENEAN TREMATODES CENTODES

TURBELLARIAN
• Mainly free-living, marine species, althrough some species live
in frshwater or moist terrestial environments.
.
• Most are predators or scavenger, and terestial species are
mostly nocturnal and live in shaded, humid locations, such as
leaf litter or rotting wood.

• The ventral epidermis of turbellians is ciliated and facilitates

their locomotion.
MONOGENEANS
• Free living flatworms are predators

• Live in water or in shaded, humid terrestial environment such as

leaf litter.

• Most ditinguishing feature is the presence of a large attachment

organ called an opistohaptor.

• They are ectoparasites, mostly of fish, with simple lifecycles that

consist of a free-swimming larva that attaches to a fish to begin
transformationto the parasitic adult form.
TREMATODES
• They are internal parasites of mollusk and many other groups,
including human.

• They have a complex life cycles that involve a primary host in

which sexual reproduction occurs, and one or more secondary
host in which asexual reproduction occurs.

• They are also responsible for serious human disease including

schistosomiasis, a blood fluke.
CENTODES
• Endoparasites

• The anterior end has scolex. It used to attach to the host body.

• Near scolex there is rostellum that contains hooks, scolex also

include suckers.

• Hooks can be withdrawn or extend.

• most are adapted to live inside the gut of the host.

 BODY PLAN
Outer Body Covering
• The body of some Platylhelminthes(e.g.., turbellarians) is covered
by a ciliated epidermis.

• Epidermal cells contains rod-shaped structures called Rhabdites

that when released into the sorrounding water, expand and form
a protective mucous coat around the animal.
• The outer body covering of other platylhelminthes (e.g., parasitic
forms) is a non-ciliated Tegument.

• The Tegument is refered to as a Syncytial Epitheum.

Digestive System
• Some of the Platylhelminthes posses a digestive system, with a
mouth, pharynx, and a branching intestine from which the
nutrients are absorbed.

• The intestine, with only one opening, is a Blind System.

Reproduction
• Platylhelminthes reproduction occuring types:

• Asexual reproduction
• Sexual reproduction
Excretion System
• Flame cells, the beating of their flagella extract water that contains
wastes and some reusable material, and drive it into networks of
tube cells which are lined with flagella and microcilli.

• The tube cells flagella drive the water towards exits called
Nephridiopores

• The combination of flame cells and tube cells are called

Protonepheredia.

• Distinguished feature of phylum Platylhelminthes is the Flame cell.