Invertebrates colonized terrestrial environments independently of vertebrates. However, they faced similar challenges adapting to land. Compare the adaptations of flatworms, mollusks and arthropods in regards to: i) water conservation, 2) movement/body support and 3) reproduction that allowed them to successfully colonize terrestrial environments. Solution Free-living flatworms are carnivores and scavengers that eat organic matter,which they acquire through their pharynx.Tapeworms attach to their host’s intestine and absorb food through the body wall.Flatworms move by contracting muscles against a hydrostatic skeleton.Flatworms reproduce asexually by pinching in half;they can also reproduce sexually inside a host by producing eggs that are dispersed.The flat body shape of a flatworm maximizes the surface area in contact with the environment. Mollusks have a mantle that secretes a shell in most species,a muscular foot that provides movement,a visceral mass containing the internal organs,and a radula.Mollusks feed by filtering organic particles out of the water;by scraping algae off rocks;or by hunting prey.Mollusks move by contracting muscles against a hydrostatic skeleton.Many mollusks protect themselves with a hard shells,others can evade predators by changing color and darting away,often in a cloud of ink. Arthropods use their jointed appendages for movement,defense,prey capture,sensing the environment,ornaments,weapons,and copulation.Arthropods feed on almost every imaginable inorganic substance,either by chewing or sucking.On land,arthropods exchange gases via tubules called tracheae or via book lungs;arthropods that live in water respire with gills.Arthropods have specialized organs that remove nitrogenous wastes,which are deposited into the end of the digestive tract and ejected though the anus.Arthropods have specialized sense organs that are sensitive to light,sound,scents,chemicals, potential mates,food proximity,touch,air currents,and body position.Arthropods move by contracting muscles attached internally to the exoskeleton.Although there are asexually reproducing species, most arthropods reproduce sexually,using internal fertilization.The exoskeleton offers some protection against predators, but many arthropods defend themselves by fleeing,biting,stinging,pinching,making noises,or giving off foul odors.Camouflage is another defense,as are wing spots that may startle predators.Aquatic arthropods respire with gills.Terrestrial forms rely on diffusion through tiny tubes called trachea.Trachea are cuticle-lined air ducts that branch throughout the body,and open in tiny holes called spiracles,located along the abdomen.Insects can open and close these spiracles,to conserve water that would otherwise be lost to evaporation from the open tubes.Their reliance on diffusion for respiration is one of the reasons that insects are small.Being small,an arthropod has a larger relative surface area than a human, so it loses more water.The exoskele.