BY: PATRICIA NICOLE C. SOLIVEN AND JARAMAE KRISTIA A.

DOMINGO II-SAMPAGUITA

-KINGDOM

ANIMALIA

PHYLUM ANNELIDA

CLASS POLYCHAETA

Kingdom Animalia is the largest kingdom and consists of animals from a few cells to several tons. Estimates on just how many animals there are on the planet vary from 2 million to 10 million. All members of Kingdom Animalia have the following features in common:

(1) Animals are multicellular and heterotrophic organisms, meaning they have multiple cells and depend directly or indirectly on other organims for nourishment.

(2) Animals do not have cell walls, the rigid membranes present in plant cells.

(3) All animals except sponges consist of cells organized into tissues (such as muscle or skeletal tissue), which then performs specific functions. In many animals, these tissues will further specialize as organs (stomach, lungs, etc.).

All animals are members of the Kingdom Animalia, also called Metazoa. This Kingdom does not contain the prokaryotes.

Most animals are capable of complex and relatively rapid movement compared to plants and other organisms. Most reproduce sexually, by means of differentiated eggs and sperm. The development of most animals is characterized by distinctive stages, including a zygote, formed by the product of the first few division of cells following fertilization.

The annelids also called "ringed worms", formally called Annelida from Latin anellus "little ring, are a large phylum of segmented worms, with over 17,000 modern species. Annelids live in the ground, in freshwater, and in marine environments. The annelids include earthworms, polychaete worms, and leeches. All members of the group are to some extent segmented, in other words, made up of segments that are formed by subdivisions that partially transect the body cavity.

The Annelida are a medium sized phylum of more than 9,000 species of worms. Most species prefer aquatic environments, but there are also a number of well known terrestrial species.

Characteristics of Annelida: 1)Bilaterally symmetrical and vermiform. 2)Body has more than two cell layers, tissues and organs. 3)Body cavity is a true coelome, often divided by internal septa. 4)Body possesses a mouth and an anus. 5)Body possesses 3 separate sections, a prostomium(the first body segment in annelid), a trunk and a pygidium(the last dorsal segment of the abdomen). 6)Has a nervous system with an anterior nerve ring, ganglia and a ventral nerve chord. 7)Has a true closed circulatory system. 8)Has no true respiratory organs. 9)Reproduction normally sexual and gonochoristic or hermaphroditic. 10)Feed a wide range of material. 11)Live in most environments.

Annelids are coelomate animals (meaning they have a true coelome, even if this is reduced secondarily). They normally have long thin bodies composed of a series of identical segments. These segments lie between the head, comprised of a prostomium, a mouth and sometimes a peristomium, and a tail called a pygidium. Growth occurs both laterally, by enlargement of the segments during the juvenile stages, and through the addition of new segments. New segments are produced by the foremost section of the pygidium. In some species they are produced throughout the animal life but in many species production stops once a certain set number of segments has been achieved.

 Segmentation is also called metamerism. Segments each contain elements of such body

systems as circulatory, nervous, and excretory tracts. Metamerism increases the efficiency of body movement by allowing the effect of muscle contraction to be extremely localized, and it makes possible the development of greater complexity in general body organization. In animals that stay fully segmented, it helps make movement more efficient, but in many groups it shows up mostly as a developmental pattern.

earthworm

Besides

being segmented, the body wall of annelids is characterized by being made up of both circular and longitudinal muscle fibers surrounded by a moist, a cellular cuticle that is secreted by an epidermal epithelium.
All

annelids except leeches also have chitonous hair-like structures, called setae, projecting from their cuticle. Sometimes the setae are located on paddle-like appendages called parapodia.
Parapodia

are the fleshy paired appendages of polychaete annelids that function in locomotion and breathing.

EARTHWORMS The class Oligochaeta (Oligo = few, Chaeta = bristle) are the second most numerous group of annelids with around 3,100 species. Oligochaeta live in marine, freshwater and terrestrial habitats. Generally they have a more rounded crosssection, a less distinct head and are less diverse in form than the Polychaetes. They are normally hermaphrodites, and possess a clitellum as adults, an organ which looks like a bandage of skin wrapped around the animal. This clitellum, from which the whole group takes its name has an important function in sexual reproduction, otherwise reproduction may asexual by fission. A few species are parasitic but most species are free living.

CLASS OLIGOCHAETA (EARTHWORMS)

CLASS POLYCHAETA (POLYCHAETES)

The

class Polychaeta (Poly = many, Chaeta = bristle) are the most diverse and most speciose group of the Annelida containing over 5,500 species. They are predominantly marine animals and are divided ecologically into the Errantia and the Sedentaria depending on whether or not they live sedentary lives in holes or live more active lives. The Errantia have well developed heads and complex parapodia (paddles)that they can use for swimming. They are often dorsoventrally flattened. Most polychaetes are gonochoristic (meaning they are either male or female), however some are sequential hermaphrodites (meaning they are one sex first and then change to being the other sex). Reproduction is often accompanied by the production of special modified reproductive segments which may, or may not, become independent of the parent worm before mating. These segments are destroyed or die during or immediately after they have released their gametes (sperm and ova).

CLASS POLYCHAETA (POLYCHAETES)

CLASS HIRUDINEA (LEECHES)

The

subclass Hirudinea contains the 500 or so species of animals commonly known as leeches. Leeches are well known for their blood sucking habits and their head to tail looping mode of locomotion. Except for the primitive Acanthobdella peledina leeches have no chaetae and 33 body segments. they have two suckers which in most cases are located one at the anterior (head) end of the body composed of segments 1-4 and the other at the posterior (tail) end composed of segments 25-33. Like the Oligochaeta from which they are believed to have evolved the Hirudinea occur in Fresh water, marine and terrestrial environments.

CLASS HIRUDINEA (LEECHES)

Polychaetes

include such forms as sand worms, tube worms, and clam worms. Most have well developed, paired, paddle-like appendages (parapodia), well developed sense organs, and numerous setae (usually on the parapodia; "polychaete" means "many hairs"). Polychaetes usually have a well-developed head, often complete with well-developed eyes, antennae, and sensory palps. They lack any permanent sex organs (in contrast to other kinds of annelids); gonads appear as swellings during the breeding season.

Fertilization

is external, and development proceeds indirectly through a trochophore larva. Polychaetes are a large and extremely diverse group. Around 10,000 species have been described. Most are marine. Polychaetes are extremely abundant in some areas. They play essential ecological roles, serving on one hand as predators on small invertebrates, and on the other as food for fish and large invertebrates.

Polychaetes differ from other annelids in having a well differentiated head with specialized sense organs and no clitellum. They have many setae, usually arranged in bundles on the parapodia. The head bears eyes, antennae, and sensory palps. The sense organs in polychaetes are more highly developed than in oligochaetes. In contrast to clitellates, polychaetes have no permanent sex organs, possess no permanent ducts for their sex cells and usually have separate sexes.

Some Interesting Facts:

The polychaetes are the largest and most

primitive class of annelids, with more than 5300 described species, most of them marine. Although the majority are from 5 to 10 cm long, some are less than a millimeter, and others may be as long as 3 meters. Some are brightly colored in reds and greens; others are dull or iridescent.