CLASS CESTODA

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
Cestodes are long, flat, ribbon-like organisms commonly called tapeworms All tape worms consist of long, multi-segmented body. Cuticle of the body is provided with pores through which the worm takes its nutrients (no digestive system)

The mature Cestode - lives in the hosts intestines where it can obtain all its food for free. -have no digestive system of their own, -simple absorb nutrients from their hosts guts. -entire surface of their body is covered with microscopic wrinkles or projections which greatly increase the surface area available for the absorption of nutrients.

The adult worm is divided into 3 distinct parts: -Head (scolex) -neck -strobilla

AN ENTIRE RAT TAPEWORM.

A CLOSER LOOK AT SECTIONS OF THE SAME WORM.

THE HEAD, OR SCOLEX, OF HYMENOLEPIS. ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT CLEAR IN THIS PICTURE, THE SCOLEX HAS NO HOOKS, BUT
POSSESSES FOUR SUCKERS WHICH ENABLE IT TO EMBED SECURELY IN THE WALL OF THE RAT'S INTESTINE.

THE

PRODUCTION OF NEW PROGLOTTIDS OCCURS IN THIS REGION BY A PROCESS OF BUDDING.

THE TERMINAL PROGLOTTID OF THE SPECIMEN OF THE PREVIOUS PICTURES. IN THESE MATURE OR "RIPE" SECTIONS, THE OVARIES AND TESTES HAVE DEGENERATED, AND ALMOST
THE ENTIRE PROGLOTTID IS OCCUPPIED BY A BRANCHED UTERUS FILLED WITH EGGS, SOME OF WHICH ARE VISIBLE THROUGH THE THICKENED CUTICLE.

Strobilla: the long segmented body consists of segments which are of three types (i) the immature segments which follow the neck region (ii) the mature segments containing both sex organs and are responsible for reproduction (iii) the gravid segments filled with fertilized eggs

They are hermaphroditic.

Several species parasitise humans after being consumed in underprepared meat such as pork (Taenia solium), beef (T. saginata), and fish (Diphyllobothrium spp.), or in food prepared in conditions of poor hygiene (Hymenolepis spp. or Echinococcus spp.)

SOME INTERESTING FACTS:

There are more than 1,000 species of tapeworms known to science, and nearly every species of vertebrate is liable to infection from at least one species of tapeworm. T. saginata, the beef tapeworm, can grow up to 12 m (40 ft); other species may grow to over 30 m (100 ft) Some species can reach lengths of up to fifteen meters. Life cycles require one, two or three intermediate hosts. Many life cycles involve man and domestic animals.

The Class Cestoda is divided into two subclasses: the Cestodaria the Eucestoda

The Cestodaria -contains all the animals we usually think of as tapeworms - The Cestodaria contains only a few species of unusual worms -their bodies are unsegmented and roughly oval in shape, -they have only one set of reproductive organs and the larvae have 10 hooks for attachment.

The Eucestoda contains very few species that do not conform to the standard tapeworm body plan The larvae have 6 attachment hooks. The adult body consists of a head, called a 'Scolex' which is distinguished by the presence of suckers and hooks. Because they live in darkness there are no eyes, and because they do not feed in the usual manner there is no mouth.

WHY STUDY TAPEWORMS

To understand more about their physiology To know more on what kind of diseases they can cause to human To know more about Bacterial contamination and the most important controlling factor in this type of cultivation. To generate modern efforts of controlling this kind of parasite.