| Proseriata | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Monocelis fusca , a proseriate | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Platyhelminthes |
| Subphylum: | Rhabditophora |
| Order: | Proseriata Meixner, 1938 |
| Subdivisionss | |
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Proseriata is an order of free-living flatworms in the class Rhabditophora with over 400 species described worldwide. [1]
Proseriate flatworms are minute aquatic organisms, usually with an elongate body. There are no strong synapomorphies for the group, but it is supported by molecular studies. The suggested synapomorphies include the lack of lamellated rhabdites, an otherwise synapomorphy of Rhabditophora, and some features of the ultrastructure of the protonephridia and the cilia of epidermal cells. [2]
Most proseriates occur in marine environments, at the coastal zones, and are particularly common in high-energy habitats with medium to coarse sediments, sometimes being the dominant animal group in such areas. They are also common in brackish water, but few species occur in freshwater. [1]
Most proseriates are carnivores or scavengers, but some species are ectoparasitic on marine crustaceans. As they occur in very high densities in some habitats, they may have a considerable impact on the population of other meiofaunal organisms. [1]
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 specialised 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.
Any worm that lives in a marine environment is considered a marine worm. Marine worms are found in several different phyla, including the Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida, Chaetognatha, Hemichordata, and Phoronida. For a list of marine animals that have been called "sea worms", see sea worm.
The Turbellaria are one of the traditional sub-divisions of the phylum Platyhelminthes (flatworms), and include all the sub-groups that are not exclusively parasitic. There are about 4,500 species, which range from 1 mm (0.039 in) to large freshwater forms more than 500 mm (20 in) long or terrestrial species like Bipalium kewense which can reach 600 mm (24 in) in length. All the larger forms are flat with ribbon-like or leaf-like shapes, since their lack of respiratory and circulatory systems means that they have to rely on diffusion for internal transport of metabolites. However, many of the smaller forms are round in cross section. Most are predators, and all live in water or in moist terrestrial environments. Most forms reproduce sexually and with few exceptions all are simultaneous hermaphrodites.
Monogeneans, members of the class Monogenea, are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female reproductive structures.
Acoelomorpha is a subphylum of very simple and small soft-bodied animals with planula-like features which live in marine or brackish waters. They usually live between grains of sediment, swimming as plankton, or crawling on other organisms, such as algae and corals. With the exception of two acoel freshwater species, all known Acoelomorphs are marine.
The Polycladida represents a highly diverse clade of free-living marine flatworms. They are known from the littoral to the sublittoral zone, and many species are common from coral reefs. Only a few species are found in freshwater habitats.
Pseudocerotidae is a family of flatworms which includes the Bedford's flatworm. Pseudocerotidae are simple organisms categorized by their oval bodies and tentacles and bright colors. They use the cilia to glide along surfaces. Most commonly referred to as marine flatworms, closely related to the orders Macrostomorpha and Lecithoepitheliata. These organisms have very complex reproductive systems, no blood systems or organs for gas exchange, a simple brain and are hermaphroditic.
Pseudoceros is a genus of the flatworms Platyhelminthes.
Catenulida is an order of flatworms in the classical classification, or a class of flatworms in a phylogenetic approach. They are relatively small free-living flatworms, inhabiting freshwater and marine environments. There are about 100 species described worldwide, but the simple anatomy makes species distinction problematic.
Klaus Rohde is a German biologist at the University of New England (UNE), Australia, known particularly for his work on marine parasitology, evolutionary ecology/zoogeography, and phylogeny/ultrastructure of lower invertebrates.
Continenticola is a clade that includes the land planarians (Geoplanidae) and the freshwater triclads.
Dugesiidae is a family of freshwater planarians distributed worldwide. The type genus is Dugesia Girard, 1850.
Geoplanoidea is a superfamily of freshwater and land triclads that comprises the species of the Geoplanidae and the Dugesiidae families.
Rhabditophora is a class of flatworms. It includes all parasitic flatworms and most free-living species that were previously grouped in the now obsolete class Turbellaria. Therefore, it contains the majority of the species in the phylum Platyhelminthes, excluding only the catenulids, to which they appear to be the sister group.
Rhabdocoela is an order of flatworms in the class Rhabditophora with about 1700 species described worldwide. The order was first described in 1831 by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg. Most of rhabdocoels are free-living organisms, but some live symbiotically with other animals.
Bothrioplana is a genus of freshwater flatworms, the sole genus in the family Bothrioplanidae and order Bothrioplanida.
Fecampiida is an order of flatworms in the class Rhabditophora. It is a considerably recent clade, erected after molecular studies.
Dalytyphloplanida is a suborder of rhabdocoel flatworms. It contains about 1000 species and has a cosmopolitan distribution in both marine and freshwater environments, with several groups having commensal or parasitic lifestyles.
Otomesostoma auditivum is a free-living, hermaphroditic flatworm in the order Proseriata, found in brackish and freshwater environments. It is a palearctic species living in shallow-water coastal habitats, and occurring in some freshwater lakes far from the sea.
Archimonocelididae is a family of flatworms belonging to the order Proseriata.
| Authority control databases: National |
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