A planarian, also called a triclad, is a free-living flatworm of the order Tricladida, found in marine, freshwater and terrestrial settings and grouped into three suborders, Maricola, Cavernicola and Continenticola. It is a bilateral flatworm without a body cavity, with a three-branched intestine, and lacks circulatory or respiratory systems, absorbing oxygen through its skin, moving by cilia and muscular contraction, and reproducing sexually, asexually by fission, or both depending on species. Planarians are known for their ability to regenerate missing tissues and organs, a process driven by abundant adult stem cells called neoblasts, which makes them important research models for regeneration, stem cells, aging, toxicology, genetics and memory.
Facts
Partially Attested
Scientific NameSource describes the phylum Platyhelminthes (flatworms); the entity's existing description centers on planarians (order Tricladida), a subgroup, so the rank may differ. Classification
System (Realm) Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceSoft, unsegmented bodies 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia: Flatworm
Distinguishing features, sentence 1
Platyhelminthes are bilaterally symmetrical animals
Distinguishing features, last sentence
Their bodies are soft and unsegmented.
diet-classification (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly)
Platyhelminthes (from Ancient Greek πλατύ (platy) 'flat' and ἕλμινς (helmins) 'parasitic worm') is a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegmented, soft-bodied invertebrates commonly called flatworms or flat worms.
system (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly)
Free-living flatworms are mostly predators, and live in water or in shaded, humid terrestrial environments, such as leaf litter.
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