Interesting Facts About Platyhelminthes

Interesting Facts about Flatworms

 * 1) Flatworms have a barbed proboscis (tubular needle that functions like a straw) to sting their prey or suck nutrients from their hosts' tissue. This proboscis is located on the middle of the flatworm.
 * 2) There are greater than 800 species of flatworms!
 * 3) A flatworms' appearance can vary from being microscopic or many feet long. They are generally thin, but can also be plump in size.
 * 4) Flatworms, like many worms, don't have a vertebrae (backbone) or exoskeleton (thick covering over soft body). Instead, they have tiny bristles called cilia to support them while moving through animals' tissue or habitats. Planarian anatomy.jpg