Nematoda
- Invertebrate
- Unsegmented worms with bilateral symmetry and little sensory apparatus
- Protostome pseudocoelomate
- The pseudocoelom transports nutrients
- No circulatory system
- Many are parasitic
- Long and narrow body
- The epidermis is not composed of cells, but is a mass of cellular material and nuclei without separate membranes. It secretes a thick outer cuticle that is tough and flexible.
- It uses its cuticle as a support and leverage point for movement.
- Long muscles are all located along the inside of the body, so it can only bend its body from side to side.
- It has a mouth opening to a pharynx where food is pulled in and crushed. This leads into a long gut cavity that lacks muscles, and then to an anus.
- Nutrients and waste are distributed in the body cavity, which is regulated by an excretory canal along each side of the body.