One-centimeter-long intestinal and blood flatworms {fluke} look like planaria, have suckers, are blood and liver parasites, have no cilia, have thick cuticle, and have generation alternation.
life cycle
Flukes lay eggs, in animal urine or feces, which hatch into larvae {miricadia}. Larvae enter snails and change into different larvae {cercariae}, which can bore into skin, though they have no teeth, and then go to liver. In liver, male and female join {schistosomula} and enter blood to go to intestine and bladder. Adults have covering {tegument} that has few surface proteins but can bind human proteins. Adults can live 30 years.
Common flatworms {planaria}| {planarion} like still fresh water, can be parasites, respire by diffusion, and have tubes with flame cells to move water and waste out. For regeneration, smed-betacatenin-1 gene product indicates head, and Wnt gene product indicates tail.
Ribbon worms {ribbon worm} {tapeworm, animal}| can have suckers, or one ring of hooks, to attach to vertebrate intestines. Tapeworms are ribbon-like, have no mouth, have no digestive system, absorb food, and have proglottids.
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Date Modified: 2022.0225