Introduction to

“WORMS”
What are “Worms”?
Most people are familiar with earthworms found in garden soil.
Although many different kinds of animals are commonly lumped
together as “worms,” there are several distinct phyla that fit the
category. Worms are typically long, thin creatures that get around
efficiently without legs. The different phyla of worms display a
great range in size, complexity, and body structure. Flatworms
(phylum Platyhelminthes) are simple animals that are slightly
more complex than a cnidarian. Roundworms (phylum Nematoda)
have a slightly more complex body plan. Segmented worms
(phylum Annelida) are the most complex animals with worm-like
body plans. A study of worms can illuminate a possible history of
how some organ systems and body features evolved.
Worms are invertebrate animals with bilateral symmetry.
Worms have a definite anterior (head) end and a posterior
(tail) end. The ventral surface of worms and other
organisms is the bottom side of the body, often closest to
the ground. The dorsal surface is located on the upper
part of the body facing the sky. The lateral surfaces are
found on the left and right sides of the body. Figure
1compares bilateral symmetry in a whale shark and a
swimming plychaete worm. Organs for sensing light,
touch, and smell are concentrated in the heads of worms.
They can detect the kinds of environment they encounter
by moving in the anterior direction.
 (A) A whale shark (Rhincodon typus; a  (B) A swimming polychaete worm
vertebrate animal) (Tomopteris sp.; an invertebrate animal in the
phylum Annelida)
 There are six features and systems that reveal an evolving complexity in
the body structure of most worms:

1.a mesoderm, an intermediate body layer between the inner (endoderm) and
outer (ectoderm) tissue layers that forms muscle tissue
2.a central nervous system guided by a “brain”
3.an excretory system to eliminate some kinds of waste products
4.a complete digestive system, from an anterior mouth to a posterior anus
5.a coelom, a body cavity between the digestive tube and the external body wall
that is lined with tissue
6.a circulatory system consisting of a series of tubes (vessels) filled with fluid
(blood) to transport dissolved nutrients, oxygen, and waste products around the
body rapidly and efficiently
Flatworms: Phylum
Platyhelminthes
The phylum Platyhelminthes
consists of simple worm-like
animals called flatworms. The
name Platyhelminthes
(pronounced “plat-ee-hel-MIN-
theze”) is derived from the
Greek root word platy meaning
flat and the Greek root word
helminth meaning worm.
Roundworms: Phylum Nematoda
Species in the phylum Nematoda (from the Greek root word nema
meaning thread) are better known as the roundworms. They take their
name from their round body cross-sectional shape. Unlike the
flatworms in which food and waste enter and exit from the same
opening, nematodes have a complete digestive system.
Segmented Worms: Phylum Annelida
The worms in the phylum Annelida (from the Latin root word annelus meaning
ring) typically have complex segmented bodies. The body of an annelid is
divided into repeating sections called segments with many internal organs
repeated in each segment
Acorn Worm : Phylum
Hemichordata
A group of wormlike marine invertebrates
closely related to both chordates and
echinoderms and usually considered to constitute
a phylum, the Hemichordata —from the Greek
hemi, meaning “half,” and chorde, meaning
“string,” thus, “half-chordate”—was first
proposed because the buccal diverticulum, a
tubular outgrowth from the mouth cavity forward
into the proboscis, or “snout,” resembled a
rudimentary notochord—the dorsal, or back-side,
supporting axis of the more primitive vertebrates.