PLATYHELMENTHES

CLASSIFICATION

• Kingdom: animalia
• Phylum: platyhelmenthes
• There are 1,300 species

CHARACTERISTICS

• Are bilaterally symetrical and has no body cavity (acoelomate)
• Digestive tract is incomplete or absent
• No mouth or no true stomach structure, body is flattened
• Live on land, in fresh and salt waters, and in other animals

EAT?

• Most flat worms are parasitic, some are carnivores and others are herbivores
• Some are herbavores at birth and swirch to being carnivores with age
• Eat insect larvae, small crustations, algae, nutrients in host, etc.

FACTS

• Can be from 1mm to 1m in length
• They are sometimes used to control invasive species
• Are hermaphrodites
• Can regenerate itself when harmed

REPRODUCTION

• Are both sexual and asexual
• Reproduce largely through regeneration and fission
• As are hermaphrodites, can be mother or father
• Most likely to reproduce with self

ROLE

• Help control the population of species
• Source of nutrients for a large variety of other species
• Some have a mutal beneficial relationship with host body

QUESTION

• How big can flatworms get?

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