Department of Zoology at ANDC/Zoology Museum/Museum specimens/Platyhelminthes

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Phylum Platyhelminthes

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= General Characteristics of Platyhelminthes =

= Classification of Platyhelminthes =

= A Few Examples =

1.Planaria dorotocephala
Common name- Dugesia

Habitat - freshwater species, found in ponds, lakes and springs.

Distribution- Cosmopolitan in distribution, found in India, Myanmar, U.K., U.S.A., and USSR.

IDENTIFYING CHARACTERS:--


 * Body- Body is elongated, cylindrical and dorsoflattened.


 * Body length- 2-15 mm.


 * Body color- brown to black.


 * Body division- It is divided into anterior head and posterior body.


 * Head- It is triangular containing auricles (ear like) and eyes or ocelli (semicircular, one pair). Auricles and eyes both are sensory structures.


 * Posterior body- it conmtains highly pointed end.


 * Digestive system- complete, consisting of mouth, pharynx, proboscis and intestine (branched).


 * Mouth- The mouth is situated in middle of the ventral surfaceand is surrounded by proboscis pore.


 * Intestine- It has three branches in which one is extending upwards and other two are extending backwards.


 * Genital pore- It is located posterior to the mouth.


 * Reproduction- It reproduces sexually or asexually. Regeneration also occurs.

2. Taenia solium
Common Name- Pork tapeworm.

Habit and habitat- It is the parasite in the intestine of man.

Distribution- it is found in India, China, Yogoslavia, and Germany.

IDENTIFYING CHARACTERS:-


 * Body- Body is about 4-5 meters in length.


 * Segmentation- it consists of about 700-900 segments.


 * Body division- It is differentiated intoscolex, neck and thenimmature, mature, gravid and malformed segments.


 * Mature segments- They contain fully developed hermaphrodite genital organs.


 * Scolex- It is adhesive in nature, consisting of four suckers and a rounded rostellum( surrounded by a double row of 28-32 hooks).


 * Life cycle- Life cycle of T. solium isindirect. It requires an intermediate host pig for development.


 * Diseases- It causes diseases like anaemia, secondary anaemia, eosinophilia, diarrhea, haemorrhage,abdominal pain and nausea etc.

3.Taenia saginata
Common name- Beef tapeworm.

Habit and habitat- It found in the posterior coils of the intestine.

Distribution- It found in India, China and Germany.

IDENTIFYING CHARACTERS;-


 * Body- it is about 4-6 meters in length.


 * Body color- whittish in color ( preserved).


 * Body segments- Body is divided into about 1000 segments.


 * Types of segments- There are four types of segments:-immature, mature, gravid and malformed segments.


 * Body division- Body is divided into scolex, neck and strobila (segments).


 * Scolex- It contain 4 suckers. But rostellum and hooks are absent.


 * Life cycle- Life cycle is indirect. Buffalo is intermediate host.


 * Diseases- It causes diarrhoea, nausea and insomnia and abdominal pain etc.

4.Fasciola hepatica
Common name- Sheep liver fluke.

Habit and habitat- It is a pathogenic parasite in the liver and bilary passage.

Distribution- Cosmopolitan distribution. It found in sheep raising areas like India, U.S.A., Cuba and Syria etc.

IDENTIFYING CHARACTERS:-


 * Body- It has beef like and dorso-ventrally flattened body.
 * Body length- 18-50 mm in length.
 * Mouth- Mouth is small and ventrally situated at anterior extremity.
 * Suckers- There are two types of suckers naming oral and ventral sucker.
 * Oral sucker- It surrounds the mouth and located at the anterior extremity.
 * Ventral sucker- It is also called acetabulum ( adhesive in nature) and is located a little behind to the mouth.
 * Pores- gonopore and excretory pore.

(1)Gonopore is locatedbetween oral and ventral suckers

(2)Excretory pore is located at posterior extremity


 * Cephalic cone- Anterior end consists of a conical projection. This is called cephalic cone.
 * Hermaphrodite.
 * Digestive system- It consists of mouth, oral sucker, pharynx, oesophagus and bifid intestine.
 * Life cycle- Indirect and is completed in two hosts sheep and snail.

5.Catenula
IDENTIFYING CHARACTERS:-


 * Digestive tract- consist of simple pharynx.


 * Excretory system- consist of single protonephredia (median).


 * Nervous system- 4 pairs of longitudinal nerve cords and a statocyst.


 * Reproduction- asexual by transverse fission.


 * Habitat- freshwater.

6.Convoluta
Habitat- exclusively marine form, lives under stones among algae.

IDENTIFYING CHARACTERS-


 * Body is small and ventrally curved.


 * Anterior end contain frontal glands (many in number), eyes (one pair), a single statocyst and mouth (ventrally situated).


 * intestines are absent.


 * excretory system is absent.

7.Schistosoma



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