Flatworms II: Cestoda
Cestoda - the tapeworms: parasitic
lack digestive tract; hang on to host tissue by scolex; absorb nutrients through their skin
repeated segments of proglottids, each being a hermophroditic unit; are formed continuously behind neck and shed at end when eggs are fertilized
mostly in intestine of vertrabrates, ca. one dozen in humans
Beef tapeworm Taenia: juvenile in intermuscular tissue of cattle, adults in human intestines; infection through rare-cooked beef; can reach 10 m length