Lecithoepitheliata

Lecithoepitheliata
Geocentrophora baltica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Platyhelminthes
Class: Turbellaria
Order: Lecithoepitheliata
Reisinger, 1924

The Lecithoepitheliata are an order of turbellarian flatworms.

They are free-living worms, found in both freshwater and marine environments. They are distinguished from other flatworms by the presence of four nerve cords and the fact that the ovary forms a single structure that both produces the ovum and nourishing yolk cells. In most other flatworms, yolk cells, where present at all, are typically formed in a gland derived from the ovary, but separate from it. Other diagnostic features of this order include the presence of a sharp stylet on the end of the penis, and a simple, unbranched, intestine.

References

Barnes, Robert D. (1982). Invertebrate Zoology. Philadelphia, PA: Holt-Saunders International. p. 229. ISBN 0-03-056747-5. 

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