Platyhelminthes By :Jeremy Ivcic

Characteristics ● Flat bodies ● Bilateral symmetry (have the same body parts) ● Gastrovascular cavity (can only take in food) ● Small compressed bodies ● Range from a few millimeters to several meters ● Well developed nervous systems

Adaptations ● Have thick body covers ● Also have suckers and hooks

Facts ● Known as Flatworms ● Simplest of all worm species ● Belong to a group of animals known as acoelomates, which means “without a hollow.” ● There are three types of Flatworm – Turbellaria, Trematoda, and Cestoda

Dugesia tigrina ● Kingdom: Animalia ● Phylum: Platyhelminthes ● Class: Turbellaria ● Order: Tricladida ● Family: Dugesiidae ● Genus: Dugesia ● Species: D. trgrina ● Common Name: Freshwater Planarian

Dugesia tigrina ● Live under rocks and plants in clear freshwater ponds, streams, and springs ● They eat various invertebrates like mosquito larvae ● Range from 1 to 20 millimeters

Bdelloura candida ● Kingdom: Animalia ● Phylum: Platyhelminthes ● Class: Turbellaria ● Order: Tricladida ● Family: Bdellouridae ● Genus: Bdelloura ● Species: Bdelloura candida ● Common Name: Horseshoe crab flatworm

Bdelloura candida ● Can be as big as mm ● Feeds off left over food particles from horseshoe crab ● Can be found in Eastern North America along the beach

Taenia solium ● Kingdom: Animalia ● Phylum: Platyhelminthes ● Class: Cestoda (tapeworms) ● Order: Cyclophyllidea ● Family: Taeniidae ● Genus: Taenia ● Species: Taenia solium ● Common Name: pork tapeworm

Taenia solium ● Can be found wherever raw pork is eaten, and can live in human intestines during adult stages ● Is normally 2-3 m ● Eat human feces

Video ● me-pork-tapeworm.html me-pork-tapeworm.html ● me-pork-tapeworm-in-brain.html

References Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed March 25, 2011 at Center for Biotechnology Informationhttp:// Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda MD, USAU.S. National Library of Medicine

References "pork tapeworm." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Web. 03 Apr tapeworm Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. "Flatworms, Roundworms, and Rotifers." Modern Biology. Austin, New York, Atlanta, Orlando, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, Toronto, London: Harcourt Classroom Education, Print.

References Hine, Robert. "Platyhelminthes." Science Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 4 Apr