Video - Nematodes

3 Species Examples - Platyhelminthes - Tapeworm and flat worm

Platyhelminthes –tapeworm and flat worms

1.       Soft-bodied invertebrate animals.  They have no body cavity.  And no specialized circulatory and respiratory organs, which restrict them to, flattened shapes that allow oxygen and nutrients to pass through their bodies by diffusion.  (tapeworm)

2.       Infection of the digestive system by adult tapeworms causes abdominal symptoms that are unpleasant but not disabling or life threatening. (tapeworm)

3. They contain rudimentary organ systems such as: a ladder-like nervous system with a small brain and in some cases photosensitive eyespots. A network of flame cells used to sweep nitrogen waste out of the body. (flat worms)

4. Tapeworm infections are usually diagnosed by finding segments which appear as small white worms that may look like grains of rice or seeds in the rear end of a dog, in a dog’s feces, or where a dog lives and sleeps. (dog tapeworm)

5. A fluke is a type of small, parasitic flatworm that feeds on the blood or body of its host. (liver fluke)

Dog tapeworm 

 Human Tapeworm

Liver Fluke

3 Species Examples - Nematodes - Roundworms

Nematodes

1. Roundworms can be found in either pet or human intestines. There are over 15,000 named species of roundworm.

2. roundworms are usually so tiny that you cannot see them with a bare eye.

3. Varying in length from less than one-tenth of an inch to more than three feet, roundworms can cause multiple human diseases that can very in the danger scale.

4. Nematodes are known to not contain any type of blood vascular system.

5. Nematodes may be free-living, predaceous, or parasitic, and many of the parasitic species cause important diseases of plants, animals, and humans.

3 Species Examples - Annelid Leeches

1. Found in Marine environment
2. Blood-sucking parasites, mainly on fish
3. Have suckers at both ends of their bodies and use these to move
4. Have a fixed maximum number of segments while other groups of annelids add segments throughout their lives.
5. Leeches are sometimes used for medical reasons.  They have been used to assist in microsurgery, and their saliva has provided anti-inflammatory compounds and several important anticoagulants one of which also prevents tumors from spreading.

Class Specimen Determination

1.       Annelida – segmented worm

a.       Earthworm

b.      Leech

c.       Amphitrie

d.      Sand worm

2.       Nematodes- round worms

a.       Roundworm

b.      Nemathelminthes -Toxocara

3.       Platyhelminthes – flat worms

a.       Taenia

b.      Tapeworm

c.       Dog tapeworm

d.      Liver Fluke 

Major Diversity/ Classes

 1.       Annelida

a.       Class Polychaeta - all marine environment worms

b.      Class Oligochaeta - Earthworms

c.       Class Hirudinea - Leeches

2.       Platyhelminthes

a.       Class turbellaria - Free living flatworms 

b.      Class Monogenea - small parasitic flukes 

c.       Class Trematoda - Parasitic flukes, sheep liver flukes, blood flukes

d.      Class Cestoda - parasitic tapeworms that live in humans, dogs, cats, cows, ect.

3.       Nematodes

                        a.  Class Chromadorea- roundworm

                        b.  Class Secernentea - main class of nematodes, characterized by numerous caudal papillae or group of sensory organs that are used for identification of nematodes.    

Dissection - Earthworm

This is the Cerebral Ganglion, otherwise known as the earthworms brain.