Unlike the flatworms in which food and waste enter and exit from the same opening, nematodes have a complete digestive system. An animal with a complete digestive system has a mouth at one end, a long tube with specialized parts in the middle, and an anus at the other end.
How do roundworms digest?
Roundworms have tube digestive systems, meaning ingested food travels a single route. It enters through the mouth, is ground down in the pharynx, is digested in the gut, and is eliminated from the anus. The mouth is on one end of the body and the anus is on the opposite end.
What do roundworms do to their host?
Roundworms are small organisms that can live in your intestine, which is part of your digestive system. Roundworms can live in the human intestine for a long time. They can be harmful and cause many problems, including abdominal (belly) pain, fever and diarrhea.
How does roundworm feed?
Diet/Feeding Nematodes feed on organic matter, both dead and alive such as small animals including other worms, or on diatoms, algae, fungi and bacteria. Some eat plants by piercing the stem or root and sucking out the contents.
Why are roundworms not digested?
Due to their parasitic mode of life these worms completely lost their digestive apparatus but have a well-developed reproductive system and special organs that help them attach to the host's tissues.
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