The flatworms, flat worms, Platyhelminthes, or platyhelminths are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegmented, soft-bodied invertebrates. Unlike other bilaterians, they are acoelomates, and have no specialized circulatory and respiratory organs, which restricts them to having flattened shapes that allow oxygen and nutrients to pass through their bodies by diffusion. The digestive cavity has only one opening for both ingestion and egestion ; as a result, the food cannot be processed continuously.
A planarian is one of the many flatworms of the traditional class Turbellaria. It usually describes free-living flatworms of the order Tricladida (triclads), although this common name is also used for a wide number of free-living platyhelminthes. Planaria are common to many parts of the world, living in both saltwater and freshwater ponds and rivers. Some species are terrestrial and are found under logs, in or on the soil, and on plants in humid areas.
The New Zealand flatworm is a large land flatworm native to New Zealand. It can vary from 5 mm in length when hatched to approximately 17 centimetres (6.7 in) in mature adults.
The blind swamp eel is a species of fish in the family Synbranchidae. It is endemic to Mexico where it lives in cave systems and is known in Spanish as the anguila ciega. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated this cavefish as "endangered".
The Lake Pedder planarian is a species of invertebrate in the family Dugesiidae.
Geoplanidae is a family of flatworms known commonly as land planarians or land flatworms.
Bipalium is a genus of large predatory land planarians. They are often loosely called "hammerhead worms" or "broadhead planarians" because of the distinctive shape of their head region. Land planarians are unique in that they possess a "creeping sole", a highly ciliated region on the ventral epidermis that helps them to creep over the substrate. Several species are considered invasive to the United States, Canada, and Europe. Some studies have begun the investigation of the evolutionary ecology of these invasive planarians.
Rock Bridge Memorial State Park is a geological preserve and public recreation area encompassing 2,273 acres (920 ha), five miles (8.0 km) south of Columbia in Boone County, Missouri off of Missouri Route 163.
Continenticola is a clade that includes the land planarians (Geoplanidae) and the freshwater triclads.
Girardia is a genus of freshwater planarians belonging to the family Dugesiidae.
Dendrocoelidae is a family of freshwater tricladida flatworms that has a holarctic distribution.
Planarioidea is a superfamily of freshwater triclads that comprises the families Dendrocoelidae, Kenkiidae and Planariidae.
Kenkiidae is a family of freshwater triclads. Their species can be found sporadically in caves, groundwater, and deep lakes in Central Asia, Far East and North America.
Microplana is a genus of land planarians found in Europe and Africa.
Camerata robusta is a species of triclad flatworm found in the shores of Italy. It is the only known species in the genus Camerata. Camerata refers to the chambers present in this genus' penis. The species name robusta refers to the strong muscles present in the copulatory apparatus.
Cavernicola is a suborder of planarians found mostly in freshwater habitats of caves, although some species occur on the surface.
Aldemaro Romero Jr. is a Venezuelan/American scientist, communicator, and public intellectual. He has published more than 1,100 works, more than 30 books and monographs, and produced, directed, written and/or hosted more than 1500 radio shows and 400 TV shows and documentaries in areas ranging from science to history and philosophy. He is known for his approaches of combining field, laboratory and archival studies from different disciplines.
Geoplaninae is a subfamily of land planarians endemic to the Neotropical region. However, one species, Obama nungara has been introduced in Europe.
Difroehlichia is a genus of land planarians from South America, currently comprising a single species, Difroehlichia elenae, which was found in a ferruginous cave in the municipality of Conceição do Mato Dentro, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, which is part of the Cerrado biome.
Devil's Icebox is a cave located in Rock Bridge Memorial State Park in Columbia, Missouri. It is said to one of the longest caves in the state of Missouri and is one of the caves with the highest number of species in the state. The cave is currently closed to protect the endangered Indiana bat. It is the only known natural home of the species Kenkia glandulosa or pink planarian.
