Monday, March 30, 2009

Peanut Worm

Grab your Epipen, its time to lean about Peanut Worms!!!!!

The Peanut worms scientific name is the Sipuncula or Sipunculida. Peanut worms are made up of a phylum of somewhere between 144 and 320 different species. The Peanut Worm has bilateral symmetry and is an unsegmented marine worm.



The Peanut worm is known for its crazy mouth. The worms mouth has anywhere from 18-24 tentacles around it. The worm has a digestive system or tract which starts in the mouth, through the posterior part of the body and working its way towards the anus on the opposite side or dorsal side of the body. It has an anal shield that makes the worms anus "invisible." The worms do not have vascular blood systems, they use something called interstitial fluid. This system transports oxygen and good nutrients around the worms body structure. The worm has a body structure which is very strong. Its muscles dense up when it feels scared or threatened. The reason why it is called a Peanut Worm is because when it retracts its body, it looks like a peanut.



The Peanut worm reproduces both sexually and asexually. More peanut worms can be found to produce sexually. The Peanut worms produce their gametes in the lining of their coelom. They are then put into the coelom to mature. Then they are taken by the metanephridia system and released into an aquatic environment. The male and female gametes come together and develop something called a Trochopore larva. After that a Pelagosphera larva becomes a small worm and then an adult! MAZEL TOV!

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