EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -flatworm, also called platyhelminth, any of the phylum Platyhelminthes, a group of soft-bodied, usually much flattened invertebrates. A number of flatworm species are free-living, but about 80 percent of all flatworms are parasitic-i.e., living on or in another organism and securing nourishment from it.

Detailed explanation-2: -Characteristics of Platyhelminthes They are triploblastic, acoelomate, and bilaterally symmetrical. They may be free-living or parasites. The body has a soft covering with or without cilia. Their body is dorsoventrally flattened without any segments and appears like a leaf.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Platyhelminthes, or flatworms, are the most primitive bilaterally symmetrical animals. They have a head and a tail, but only one opening into the gut and no body cavity.

Detailed explanation-4: -Platyhelminthes are a phylum of worms that are flat in shape, the majority of which are parasitic in nature. Their flat shape comes from the fact that they are acoelomates (having no coelom, or fluid-filled body cavity).