- Also called:
- platyhelminth
- Related Topics:
- fluke
- tapeworm
- planarian
- turbellarian
- Monogenea
Life cycle
Reproduction
With very few exceptions, platyhelminthes are hermaphroditic, and their reproductive systems are generally complex. Numerous testes but only one or two ovaries are usually present in these flatworms. The female system is unusual in that it is separated into two structures: the ovaries and the vitellaria, often known as the vitelline glands or yolk glands. The cells of the vitellaria form yolk and eggshell components. In some groups, particularly those that live primarily in water or have an aqueous phase in the life cycle, the eggshell consists of a hardened protein known as sclerotin, or tanned protein. Most of this protein comes from the vitellaria. In other groups, especially those that are primarily terrestrial or have a terrestrial phase in their life cycle, the eggshells are composed of another protein, keratin, a tougher material that is more resistant to adverse environmental conditions.
In the tapeworms, the tapelike body is generally divided into a series of segments, or proglottids, each of which develops a complete set of male and female genitalia. A rather complex copulatory apparatus consists of an evertible (capable of turning outward) penis, or cirrus, in the male and a canal, or vagina, in the female. Near its opening the female canal may differentiate into a variety of tubular organs. Fertilized eggs are often stored in a saclike uterus, which may become greatly distended; in tapeworms, it may fill a whole segment.
Each male and female reproductive system may have its own external opening, or gonopore, or the terminal regions of each system may join to form a common genital atrium, or passage, and a genital pore.
Either cross-fertilization (i.e., involving two individuals) or self-fertilization may occur; self-fertilization is probably more common. Some free-living flatworms perform a type of copulation known as hypodermic impregnation, whereby the penis of one animal pierces the epidermis of another and injects sperm into the tissues. Some forms reproduce asexually through budding.