Archiacanthocephala

Archiacanthocephala is a class within the phylum of Acanthocephala. They are microscopic parasitic worms that attach themselves to the intestinal wall of terrestrial vertebrates, including man. They are characterised by the body wall and the lemnisci (which are a bundle of sensory nerve fibers), which have nuclei that divide without spindle formation or the appearance of chromosomes or it has a few amoebae-like giant nuclei. Typically, there are eight separate cement glands in the male which is one of the few ways to distinguish the dorsal and ventrals sides of these organisms.