10 characteristics of tapeworm

Tapeworm habitat
Tapeworm family
Scientific name of tapeworm and roundworm

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Taenia (flatworm)

Genus of flatworms

This article is about the organism. For the infection, see Taeniasis.

Taenia (tapeworm, in gut) is not to be confused with Tinea (ringworm, on skin).

Taenia is the type genus of the Taeniidae family of tapeworms (a type of helminth). It includes some important parasites of livestock. Members of the genus are responsible for taeniasis and cysticercosis in humans, which are types of helminthiasis belonging to the group of neglected tropical diseases. More than 100 species are recorded. They are morphologically characterized by a ribbon-like body composed of a series of segments called proglottids; hence the name Taenia (Greek ταίνια, tainia meaning ribbon, bandage, or stripe). The anterior end of the body is the scolex. Some members of the genus Taenia have an armed scolex (hooks and/or spines located in the "head" region); of the two major human parasites, Taenia saginata has an unarmed scolex, while Taenia solium has an armed scolex.^[1]

The proglottids have a central ovary, with a vitellarium (yolk gland) posterio

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15.12A: Tapeworms

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Learning Objectives

Compare and contrast the routes of transmission for various tapeworms and describe their life cycles

Tapeworms are characterized as adult parasitic flatworms that target and infect the digestive tract. Typically, transmission occurs by ingestion of a live tapeworm larva which is found in undercooked or contaminated food. Once inside the digestive tract, the larvae can then grow and develop into a large tapeworm. There are various types of tapeworms identified to date that are capable of infecting humans. A few common tapeworms include the pork tapeworm (Taenia solium), the beef tapeworm (Taenia saginata), and the fish tapeworm (Diphyllobothrium spp. ).

Taenia solium

Taenia solium, the pork tapeworm, infects both pigs and humans. Humans are typically infected by ingesting infected pork. Taenia solium will target the intestinal area in humans. Using the four suckers and two rows of hooks present on its scolex, it lodges itself against the intestinal wall. Once anchored, the tapeworm conti

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Cestoda

Class of flatworms

Cestoda is a class of parasitic worms in the flatwormphylum (Platyhelminthes). Most of the species—and the best-known—are those in the subclass Eucestoda; they are ribbon-like worms as adults, commonly known as tapeworms. Their bodies consist of many similar units known as proglottids—essentially packages of eggs which are regularly shed into the environment to infect other organisms. Species of the other subclass, Cestodaria, are mainly fish infecting parasites.

All cestodes are parasitic; many have complex life histories, including a stage in a definitive (main) host in which the adults grow and reproduce, often for years, and one or two intermediate stages in which the larvae develop in other hosts. Typically the adults live in the digestive tracts of vertebrates, while the larvae often live in the bodies of other animals, either vertebrates or invertebrates. For example, Diphyllobothrium has at least two intermediate hosts, a crustacean and then one or more freshwater fish; its definitive host is a mammal. Some cestodes are host-specifi