Organism Physiology Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organism Physiology Paper - Essay Example There is an oral sucker around the mouth region and a ventral sucker which is present in the middle of the body and is used for adhering to the host organisms. There is no definitive body cavity and the organs are present embedded in a matrix composed of connective tissue. Somatic muscles pass through the tissue and attach to the outer tegument. The alimentary canal along with a muscular pharynx and esophagus is well-developed in flukes. The intestine is a branched tubular organ which may contain secondary and tertiary branches. The main branch however, leads to the excretory vesicle which also collects the two lateral collecting ducts of the excretory system. In the process of digestion food enters the sac-like gut from the mouth and gets digested. The undigested food then comes out from the mouth as the excretory system is not very specialized. As most trematodes are hermaphrodites with the exception of the blood flukes, they carry the male and female reproductive organs in the sam e body. The male organ is composed of two testes along with accessory glands and ducts that leads to the cirrus, which is equivalent to the penis. The penis then enters the common genital tract. The female reproductive organ contains a single ovary with a seminal receptacle and yolk glands which connect to the oviduct and later expands into the oocyte. The female uterus extends from the oocyte and enters the common genital tract. The fertilization is through self or cross-fertilization. The eggs of the female assemble in the oocyte and then pass through the uterus via the genital tract into the genital pores where fertilization occurs. In the case of the blood flukes, the general body structure remains and the male and female remain in close association within the fold of the tegument on the ventral surface of the male (Castro, 1996). The characteristic flat shape of the flukes is the physiological response of the organism with regard to