Pronunciation: see-lome

Etymology:

A coelom is a fluid-filled cavity that lies between the outer wall and the digestive tract that is bound by a specialized epithelial tissue called peritoneum.

Different types of body plans in triploblastic animals. The Pseudocoelom is a persistent blastocoel with no connection between the gut and body wall. The Acoelom is similar to the pseudocoelom, but the cavity is filled with parenchyma. The Eucoelom (coelomate condition) has a body cavity that is derived secondarily during development with an internal cell layer called peritoneum and mesenteries connecting all organs in the coelom. Image from: http://www.nhc.ed.ac.uk/index.php?page=24.25.312.321.331

By Jack R. Holt. Last revised: 02/01/2014