How useful is the study of the nature of the body cavity and coelom in the classification of animals?
Coelom is a fluid-filled space between the body wall and the digestive tract. The presence or absence of a body cavity or coelom plays a very important role in the classification of animals. Animals that possess a fluid-filled cavity between the body wall and the digestive tract are known as coelomates. Annelids, molluscs, arthropods, echinoderms, and chordates are examples of coelomates. On the other hand, the animals in which the body cavity is not lined by mesoderm are known as pseudocoelomates. In such animals, mesoderm is scattered in between ectoderm and endoderm. Aschelminthes is an example of pseudocoelomates. In certain animals, the body cavity is absent. They are known as acoelomates. An example of acoelomates is platyhelminths.