![]() ![]() According to the host organism, they are further classified into different types. But, the two most widely studied parasitic species are tapeworms and blood flukes. Several types of flatworms are parasitic to humans, fish, livestock, and other organisms. The former live in the external parts of a host organism, while the latter are found in the internal organs of the host. ![]() They are either ectoparasites or endoparasites. Actually half of the identified flatworms are parasitic, while the remaining are free-living species. When we say parasitic types, they belong to the groups Cestoda (representing tapeworms), Digenea (representing flukes), and Monogenea (infest fish). The flatworms are categorized under the phylum Platyhelminthes (also spelled as Plathelminthes), which is also their common name. While not all flatworms are parasitic in their food habit, some of them exhibit parasitism and feed on host organisms for deriving nutrients. To be more precise, the microscopic size and flattened shape of flatworms enable them to undergo diffusion for exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide. Their body shape and size are adaptations, owing to lack of complex circulatory and respiratory systems. Flatworms are invertebrates, characterized by their minute-size or flattened, unsegmented, bilateral, soft body. ![]()
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