2. Hey there
potential lovers!
I’m a nematode
or “roundworm.”
My phylum is
special because
we have bilateral
symmetry and
various other
desirable traits like
an alimentary
canal and
subterminal anus.
I can also cause
fun diseases like
river blindness,
hookworm and
trichinosis.

3. I live just about
anywhere that’s
damp, including
the inside of
people and
animals. There are
both free-living
and parasitic
species in my
phylum.
I’ll eat anything
too; in fact, 90,000
nematodes were
once found in a
single rotting
apple!

4. My favorite
activities are
eating, laying eggs
(about 200,000 per
day), eating, swim
ming, eating, infec
ting unsuspecting
animals, and
eating. One of my
species, Ascaris
lumbricoides lives
in the upper small
intestine of
humans and may
not cause
symptoms.
My genes are also
used for autism
brain pathway
research.

5. My great
evolutionary
advancement is my
round shape which
allows me to
maintain my bodily
fluids under very
high pressure.
This pressure makes
it possible for me to
swim and contain
my reproductive
organs and
intestines
unsupported within
my pseudocoel.
I can also shoot my
feces up to 2 feet in
the air!

6. Besides my charming
personality, I have a
specialized cuticle. It is
quite complex, made
up of 9 protein-fiber
layers, but is still thin
and flexible. It is also
permeable to water
and gases.
I have a pharynx with
the capability to suck
liquid food directly from
my environment into
my intestines.
And to top it all off, my
nervous system has a
whooping 4 nerve
ganglia and 6
longitudinal nerves that
extend down my whole
body.

7. What I really want in an
ideal mate is someone
with access to lots of
food and moisture. I’d
also be amenable to a
match with someone
willing to be infected…