The phylum Platyhelminthes

The phylum Platyhelminthes
Aget - 10 centaurus

The Platyhelminthes are a successful phylum with around 25,000 known species divided into four classes. Most Platyhelminthes are parasites on other animals. Platyhelminthes live nearly everywhere, on land, in both fresh and marine waters as well as inside other animals. Most of the free living species are marine with only a small number inhabiting fresh water and very few being terrestrial. Parasitic species normally move between different habitats as they change life cycle stages and hosts. A number of parasitic species are of importance to mankind because they infect either our bodies or the bodies of our livestock

Characteristics of Platyhelminthes:-
1)Bilaterally symmetrical.
2)Body having 3 layers of tissues with organs and organelles.
3)Body contains no internal cavity.
4)Possesses a blind gut (i.e. it has a mouth but no anus)
5)Has Protonephridial excretory organs instead of an anus.
6)Has normally a nervous system of longitudinal fibres rather than a net.
7)Generally dorsoventrally flattened.
8)Reproduction mostly sexual as hermaphrodites.
9)Mostly they feed on animals and other smaller life forms.
10)Some species occur in all major habitats, including many as parasites of other animals

.Species of platyhelminthes
Pig Tapeworm - Taenia solium

Taenia solium or commonly known as pig tapeworm is an intestinal infection with adult tapeworms that follows ingestion of contaminated pork. The ingestion of taenia solium's eggs may result in tissue cysts (cysticercosis), which are particularly problematic when in the brain.

Resources:
http://www.earthlife.net/inverts/platyhelminthes.html
http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/infectious_diseases/cestodes_tapeworms/taenia_solium_pork_tapeworm_infection_and_cysticercosis.html

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