Cestodes Part I: Tapeworms

Animalia

The kingdom that includes all animals.

Playtyhelminthes

The phylum comprising flatworms.

Cestoda

The class of flatworms known as tapeworms.

Eucestoda

Subclass referring to true tapeworms.

Cotyloda

Subclass referring to pseudotapeworms.

Sclolex

The head of a true tapeworm located at the anterior end.

Acetabula

Suckers that provide attachment to the host in Eucestoda.

Tegument

The body wall/skin through which Eucestoda feed.

Rostellum

Backwards facing hooks that provide attachment points in some tapeworms.

Proglottids

The individual segments that make up the body of a tapeworm.

Hermaphroditic

Having complete sets of male and female reproductive organs.

Hexacanth

A larval stage with six hooks, found in the eggs of cestodes.

Pseudophyllid

A type of egg that resembles hookworm ova with an operculum.

Cysticercoid

The larval stage of Eucestoda that develops in arthropods.

Cysticercus

The larval form of cysticercus that develops in mammalian intermediate hosts.

Hydatid cyst

A type of larval stage found in some tapeworms that can form in intermediate hosts.

Dipylidium caninum

Commonly known as flea tapeworm, it primarily affects dogs and cats.

Taenia taeniaeformis

Known as feline tapeworm, with rodents as intermediate hosts.

Echinococcus granulosus

A zoonotic tapeworm that can form hydatid cysts in humans.

Coracidium

A free-swimming ciliated embryo that hatches from Cotyloda eggs.

Plerocercoid

The larval stage that develops from a procercoid in the second intermediate host.

Diphyllobothrium latum

Commonly known as the broad fish tapeworm, affecting various carnivores.

Spirometra mansonoides

Known as the zipper tapeworm, it is zoonotic and has multiple intermediate hosts.