BIO 102

GENERAL BIOLOGY II
COURSEWARE

Dr. B.M. Macaulay

 Kingdom: Animalia
Phyla:
1. Protozoa
2. Porifera
3. Coelentrata
4. Platyhelminthes
5. Nematoda
6. Annelida
7. Arthropoda
8. Mollusca
9. Echinodermata
10. Protochordates
11. Chordates
Platyhelminthes
Phylum Platyhelminthes
• Platyhelminthes has over 13,000 species and are also known as flatworms.
• The name Platyhelminthes is derived from the Greek words, “Platy” which
means “flat”, and “helminthes” which means “worm”.
• Flatworms live on land, in fresh water, in oceans, and in or on other animals
(including humans) as parasites.
• Parasitic flatworms (such as Tapeworm) can injure or kill the host organism.
• As for the free-living flatworms (e.g. Planaria), they are predators, actively
hunting for food.
Characteristics of Platyhelminthes (1)
• They are bilaterally symmetrical.
• They are triploblastic, i.e., they have 3 embryonic tissue layers – ectoderm,
mesoderm and endoderm.
• They are acoelomate, i.e., have no body cavity.
• They may be free-living or parasitic in habit.
• Their bodies are dorso-ventrally flattened without any segments and appears
like a leaf.
• They have only one opening to their digestive tract; a mouth (in parasitic
forms) or a pharynx (in free-living forms).
• A pharynx is a long tubular mouthpart that extends from the body, surrounds
the food and tears it into very fine pieces for digestion.
Characteristics of Platyhelminthes (2)
• Respiration is by simple diffusion through the body surface.
• They have an organ level of organization.
• They have no circulatory system; therefore, the space between the body wall
and organs is filled with connective tissue called parenchyma, which helps in
transporting the food material.
• They are hermaphrodites, i.e., both male and female organs are present in
the same body.
• They possess flame cells for excretion and osmoregulation.
• The nervous system comprises the brain and two longitudinal nerve cords
arranged in a ladder-like fashion.
• They have a soft body covered with or without cilia.
Classes of Platyhelminthes
Platyhelminthes are grouped into three Classes:
• Turbellaria
• Trematoda
• Cestoda
Class Turbellaria
• These are free-living organisms found mostly in fresh water.
• They have a sac-like gut, i.e., have only one opening.
• The excretory system has two structures known as Protonephridia, which is
equipped with flame cells responsible for removing excess water out of the body.
• The body is dorso-ventrally flattened.
• They have a head region with sense organs such as ocelli (eyespots) responsible for
detecting the presence and intensity of light. They move away from light.
• They have a central nervous system consisting of a mass of nerve cells called
Ganglion.
• They are hermaphrodites with both male and female organs. They reproduce
sexually by exchanging gametes or asexually by regeneration (pinching into half
and each half growing a new half (binary fission).
• Movement is by cilia and by muscular contractions.
Dugesia sp. (Planaria)
Class Trematoda (1)
• These are mostly parasitic and are generally known as flukes.
• Because they are parasitic, they possess hooks and suckers for holding onto
the internal parts and sucking the blood of their host, respectively.
• They lack cephalization, i.e., no head structure.
• The reproductive cycle generally involves two host species – a primary and
secondary (or intermediate) host.
• Adults live in the primary host (e.g. Man) but larvae develops in the secondary
host (e.g. Snail).
• The life cycle often alternates between sexual and asexual reproduction.

Examples: Liver flukes (Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica), Lung fluke
(Paragonimus westermani) and Blood fluke (Schistosoma haematobium).
Fasciola hepatica (Liver fluke)
• Known as liver fluke since it resides in the liver and
bile duct of sheep and goat.
• Causes fascioliasis in animals – enlarged liver and
blocked bile duct.
• The infection weakens the muscles of the animals
resulting in muscular pain.
Fasciola hepatica (Liver fluke)
 Schistosoma haematobium (Blood
fluke)

Schistosoma haematobium (Blood fluke)

• Found in blood vessels and hepatic systems of humans and is therefore
known as blood fluke.
• Shows sexual dimorphism (i.e., there are two sexes, physically different).
• Schistosoma causes Schistosomiasis which spreads through contaminated
water.
• The patient suffers from anaemia, pain, fever, liver and spleen enlargement,
and diarrhoea.
• Because the eggs of Schistosoma haematobium are spiky, they often cause
bleeding in the bladder, leading to bloody urine.
Class Cestoda
• These are exclusively parasitic, living in the intestines of vertebrates.
• They are generally known as tapeworms because they are long like tape rules, up to
10 m in length.
• They attach themselves to the intestinal wall using the scolex – a head-like structure
that contains the hooks and suckers.
• Tapeworms are harmful because they excrete toxic waste, absorb nutrients, and
may block the intestine.
• The body is segmented but not metamerically (i.e. not internally at the mesoderm).
Each segment is known as a Proglottid and are involved in sexual reproduction.
• Tapeworm causes taeniasis, a disease where the patient experiences abdominal
pain, anaemia, indigestion, restlessness and false appetite.
Examples: Taenia solium (pork tapeworm), Taenia saginata (beef tapeworm),
Echinococcus granulosus (dog tapeworm) and Diphyllobothrium latum (fish
tapeworm).
Taenia sp. (Tapeworm)
Nematoda
Phylum Nematoda
• Nematoda is derived from the Greek words, “nema” meaning “thread or
round”; therefore, also known as Roundworms.
• There are bout 25,000 species of nematodes and are found in every habit of
the earth including soils.
• Almost all the members of this phylum are parasites and are of medical and
veterinary importance because of the diseases they cause.
• A free-living nematode is the eelworm.
Characteristics of Nematoda (1)
• Nematodes have bilateral symmetry.
• Unlike the flatworms that are acoelomates, nematodes are
pseudocoelomates (i.e., a tube inside a tube).
• Fluid within the pseudocoelom helps to transport nutrients and other
materials within the body.
• They are bilaterally symmetrical.
• They are NOT segmented.
• They have a tough outer covering called Cuticle.
• The cuticle does not grow; it must be shed as the animal grows. After
shedding, a new cuticle is secreted – a process known as Moulting.
• They are tapered at both ends and have a distinct mouth and anus.
• Sexes are separate and some are hermaphrodites.
Characteristics of Nematoda (2)
Examples of Nematodes (Roundworms) and the diseases they cause:
• Ascaris lumbricoides (The Common Roundworm of Man) – Ascariasis
(gastrointestinal disease)
• Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus (Hookworms) – Hook worm
disease (gastrointestinal, including other parts of the body).
• Wuchereria bancrofti (Filarial worm) – Elephantiasis (extremely swollen
appendages, due to the disturbance of the lymphatic tissues).
• Dracunculus medinensis (Guinea worm) – Dracunculiasis (worm living under
the surface of the skin).
• Enterobius vermicularis (Pin worm) – Enterobiasis (itching around the anus).
• Trichuris trichiura (Whipworm) – Whipworm infection (vomiting, diarrhoea).
Ascaris lumbricoides
Ascariasis
Hookworm
Hookworm disease
Guinea worm
Dracunculiasis
Filarial worm
Elephantiasis
Evolutionary adaptation in Platyhelminthes and Nematodes (1)
1. Morphological Adaptation (Physical body changes for survival)
a. Degeneration of organs (Loss or reduction of organ size)
i. Organs of locomotion (e.g., Adult Flukes and Tapeworms losing their cilia).
ii. Feeding organs (e.g., absence/reduced digestive tracts in parasitic worms).
iii. Sense organs (e.g., Endoparasites, such as Flukes losing the photo-sensitive
organ (eye or ocelli).
b. Formation of new organs
iv. Shape of the body (Cestodes appearing “tape-like” unlike other flatworms
that are “sac-like”).
v. Protective covering (cutile formation in nematodes).
vi. Organs of attachment (Hooks and suckers in Trematodes and Cestodes; Jaws
in Nematodes).
Evolutionary adaptation in Platyhelminthes and Nematodes (2)
2. Physiological Adaptation (Change in internal body functions for survival)
a. Secretion of anti-enzymes and mucous
i. Cestodes and Nematodes produce anti-enzymes that protect them from the
gastric juice and digestive enzymes of the host. E.g. lime cells in the body of
tapeworm protects it from acidic gastric juice.
ii. Other parasitic worms stimulate the gut of the host to produce excess mucous
to protect the parasite from the host’s acidic gastric juice.
iii. Nematodes possess cuticle that are impermeable to digestive enzymes.
b. Development of anaerobic respiration
i. Adult parasitic flatworms live in the gut of their host where oxygen is deficient.
Therefore, they respire anaerobically through the fermentation of glycogen.
C. Osmoregulation – all parasites osmo-regulate their internal environment.
Evolutionary adaptation in Platyhelminthes and Nematodes (3)
3. Enormous development of reproductive organs
a. Hermaphroditism: To overcome the challenge of reaching a sex mate,
trematodes and cestodes bear both male and female organs for self-
fertilization.
b. Development of cyst wall: To protect the eggs and larvae of endoparasites
(e.g., Taenia sp.) from the digestive enzymes of hosts, they are covered in a
resistant layer of cyst.
c. Fecundity: Parasitic worms are “egg-laying machines” since there is a high
chance of losing their eggs/larvae to eventualities. E.g., Taenia sp. (4,000 eggs);
Fasciola sp. (35,000 eggs); Ascaris sp. (200,000 eggs per day!).
d. Complex life cycle: Parasitic flatworms have a complex life cycle involving 2
or more hosts. Larvae develops in the intermediate host while adults live in the
primary host.