A Fluke is a parasitic flat worm that have evolved through millions of years. There are over 10,000 species of Trematoda on planet earth and can range from a fifth of an inch to a total four inches. Flukes can be parasitic to many different vertebrate animals including humans. More commonly they target smaller animals like fish, but sometimes they can target humans as well. Some Flukes are internal parasites where they attach the inner organs of an animal or Flukes can be external parasites where they can attach to the host. Since there are over thousands of species the variety almost never ends.
A Fluke's body is symmetrical and they have suckers and hooks just like a tapeworm. Most Trematoda are flat, but are circular in the sense of a 2-D shape. Fluke's do not have a skeleton, but they have a spongy connected tissue called mesenchyme which helps support the body of the Trematoda. Like most Platyhelminthes, having a strong skeletal system would make things harder for the Fluke to survive since the Fluke diffuses its food through its body.
An example of a Fluke is the intestinal blood fluke which lives in veins or arteries around important inner organs. When an intestinal blood fluke is hatched in the host it escapes the body through the hosts poop or feces. The intestinal blood fluke will then develop like a snail and find another host. When it finds another host it will puncture through the skin and lay its babies in the veins of the new host. The cycle continues making it the circle of life (or at least for a Fluke).
A Fluke's body is symmetrical and they have suckers and hooks just like a tapeworm. Most Trematoda are flat, but are circular in the sense of a 2-D shape. Fluke's do not have a skeleton, but they have a spongy connected tissue called mesenchyme which helps support the body of the Trematoda. Like most Platyhelminthes, having a strong skeletal system would make things harder for the Fluke to survive since the Fluke diffuses its food through its body.
An example of a Fluke is the intestinal blood fluke which lives in veins or arteries around important inner organs. When an intestinal blood fluke is hatched in the host it escapes the body through the hosts poop or feces. The intestinal blood fluke will then develop like a snail and find another host. When it finds another host it will puncture through the skin and lay its babies in the veins of the new host. The cycle continues making it the circle of life (or at least for a Fluke).