Cestodes are a group of thousands
of parasites called tapeworms. Although we often tend to think of non-human
animals, like rats, bats, dogs, and others, as carriers of all sorts of
infectious organisms, little do many people know that they may have plenty of
such organisms themselves.
One of the parasites people can
harbor in their intestines, which can then go on to infect other people, is
known as a tapeworm, which is the common term for medically important parasitic
worms of the taxonomic class of Cestoda, the cestodes.
Here are the striking features of
cestodes:
Cestodes are oftentimes called
tapeworms because their bodies have a tape-like, segmented shape to it.
Cestodes have a head, called a
scolex, which has suckers. These suckers are used to attach to a person's
intestinal tract. Some cestodes also have hooks on their head as well.
Although cestodes can be found in
a person's digestive tract, ironically they don't have one themselves. They
absorb nutrients through a skin-like covering instead.
Cestodes do not have a body
cavity. Instead, their insides are filled with spongy cells that suspend their
internal organs.
When it comes to reproduction,
cestodes are monecious. In other words, they are hermaphrodites. They are also
oviparous, or egg-laying.
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