The Class Turbellaria of the Phylum Platyhelminthes consists of the free-living flatworms, predominantly aquatic and mostly marine. The body is unsegmented, the epidermis is cellular and usually ciliated. Most turbellarians creep more often than they swim. A few pelagic species are known from the marine environment, of which Alaurina composita (Order Macrostomida) is regularly found in the North Sea. Two other turbellarid species that possibly occur in the North Sea plankton are Plagiostomum vittatum (Order Prolecithophora) and Planocera pellucida (Order Polycladida).

[After Hayward and Ryland, 1995; Brusca and Brusca, 1990; Hansson, 1998d]


The following species of Turbellaria are included:

Order Macrostomida
Family Microstomidae
Alaurina composita
Order Prolecithophora
Family Plagiostomidae
Plagiostomum vittatum
Order Polycladida
Family Planoceridae
Planocera pellucida

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Platyhelminthes
Class Turbellaria

Sorry, there are no scientific synonyms and common names available for this taxon

Brusca, R.C. and G.J. Brusca, 1990. Invertebrates. Sinauer Associates Inc., Sunderland, U.S.A. 922 pp.

Hansson, H.G., 1998d. NEAT (North East Atlantic Taxa): South Scandinavian marine Plathelminthes checklist. Internet PDF Edition, August 1998. [www.tmbl.gu.se]

Hayward, P.J. and J.S. Ryland, 1995. Handbook of the Marine Fauna of North-West Europe. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 800pp.

Von Graff, L., 1913. Turbellaria. II. Rhabdocoelida. Das Tierreich, 35. Berlin. pp i-xx, 1-484.

Sorry, there are no images or audio/video clips available for this taxon.

You can continue searching for Class Turbellaria on one of these Web sites:

Fauna Europaea (animals) | IOPI (plants) | NCBI (genetic)

Google | Yahoo | MSN | Wikipedia