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==Body Structure==
 
==Body Structure==
The nematode body is elongated and smooth with no limbs protruding, such as is seen in the common garden worm though generally on a smaller scale. The body is contained within a tough elastic '''cuticle''' which in many species forms elaborate structures useful for identification.
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The nematode body is cylindrical, elongated and smooth with no limbs protruding, such as is seen in the common garden worm though generally on a smaller scale. The body is contained within a tough elastic '''cuticle''' which in many species forms elaborate structures useful for identification. The cuticle is non-living, produced by cells of the epidermis in most of the worm, allowing it to grown between moults of the worm without the need for shedding, although this does occur a number of times during the development of most worms. It is permeable to allow ions and water to pass through and therefore plays a key role in maintaining the hydrostatic pressure, which in most nematodes is relatively high inside the worm. The cuticle also acts as an anchoring point during locomotion as a skeleton does in mammalian species.  
    
==Locomotion==
 
==Locomotion==
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Locomotion in nematodes involves somatic muscles that are present below the cuticle. They are obliquely striate unlike mammalian muscles and have dense bodies as opposed to Z disks.
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==Nervous System==
 
==Nervous System==
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