It is an interesting fact, too, that these parasites, in their earliest stage, possess organs which are present in the higher worms, but which degenerate as they approach the adult form, thus indicating that they have descended from more respectable members of the animal world, and that the low physical development which they ultimately attain is the natural result of their base mode of living.
The young marine naturalist, working on our coasts, will not be brought into intimate contact with parasitic worms to any large extent, yet we have said this little on parasitism to show that these degenerate creatures are not really devoid of interest, and that they will repay study whenever they are found. They will be more frequently met with during the examination of the animals—usually higher types—that become their hosts, and thus they hardly come within the scope of this work.
Fig. 116.—A Turbellarian, magnified
a, mouth; b, cavity of mouth; c, gullet; d, stomach; e, branches of stomach; f, nerve ganglion; g to m, reproductive organs.
The simplest of the worms are those forming the class Turbellaria, so designated on account of the commotion they produce in the water surrounding them by means of the vibratile cilia that fringe their bodies—a characteristic that is also expressed by their popular name of Whirl Worms. They are usually small creatures, with soft, flattened, unsegmented bodies, though some of the larger species are really wormlike in form, and are more or less distinctly divided into a chain of segments. Many of them are marine, and may be seen gliding over stones left uncovered by the receding tide with a smooth slug-like motion, and when disturbed in a rock pool, occasionally swimming with a similar smooth motion by the aid of their cilia. They avoid bright light, and are consequently generally found on the under surfaces of stones, especially in rather muddy situations, and where the stones are covered with a slimy deposit of low forms of life. In these turbellarians the mouth is situated on the under surface, thus enabling the animal to obtain its nourishment from the slimy surface over which it moves, and it is also provided with an extensile proboscis that aids it in the collection of its food. The digestive tube is generally very complex in form, extending its branches into every part of the soft body; and, there being no special organs of respiration, the animal derives all the oxygen required by direct absorption from the water through the soft integument.
When searching for turbellarians on the sea shore one must be prepared to meet with interesting examples of protective colouring that will render a close examination of rocks and stones absolutely necessary. Some of these worms are of a dull greyish or brownish colour, so closely resembling that of the surface over which they glide that they are not easily distinguished; and the thin bodies of others are so transparent that the colour of the stone beneath is visible through them, thus preventing them from being clearly observed.
Overturned stones should be examined for their flattened bodies gliding along rapidly in close contact with the surface. They may be removed without injury by placing a wet frond of a sea weed close to the stone, in front of one end of the body, and then urging them to glide on to it by gently touching the opposite end. Sometimes, however, the turbellarians remain perfectly still when exposed to the light, in which case they are even more difficult to detect, but a little practice will soon enable one to distinguish them with readiness.
Allied to the turbellarians are the Spoon Worms or Squirt Worms, some species of which inhabit deep water round our shores, where they burrow into the sand or mud of the bed of the sea. These form the class Gephyrea, and consist of creatures with sac-like or cylindrical and elongated bodies, and a protrusible proboscis, which is often of great length. Their bodies are not distinctly segmented, nor do they bear any appendages. The skin is tough and horny, and the body-wall, which is very thick and muscular, is often contracted when the animal is disturbed, thus causing a jet of water to be forcibly ejected.