Tapeworm Research Paper

Cestoda is the name given to a class of parasitic flatworms, of the phylum Platyhelminthes. Informally biologists refer to them as Cestodes. The most notorious species commonly are called tapeworms, for example Taenia solium, the "pork tapeworm". Cestodes are all parasitic and their life histories vary, but typically they live in the digestive tracts of vertebrates as adults, and often in the bodies of other species of animals as juveniles. Over a thousand species have been described, and all vertebrate species may be parasitised by at least one species of tapeworm. Humans are subject to parasitism by several species of tapeworms if they eat underprepared meat such as pork, beef, and fish, or if they live in, or eat food prepared in, conditions of poor hygiene .
T. saginata, the beef tapeworm, can grow up to 20 m ; the largest species, the whale tapeworm Polygonoporus giganticus, can grow to over 30 m . On the other hand, species using small vertebrates as hosts tend to be small. For example, vole and lemming tapeworms are only in length, and those parasitizing shrews only .
Tapeworm parasites of vertebrates have a long history:
The reproductive system includes one or many testes, cirrus, vas deferens and seminal vesicle as male organs, and a single lobed or unlobed ovary with the connecting oviduct and uterus as female organs. There is a common external opening for both male and female reproductive systems, known as genital pore, which is situated at the surface opening of the cup-shaped atrium. Even though they are sexually hermaphroditic, self-fertilization is a rare phenomenon. In order to permit hybridization, cross-fertilization between two individuals is often practiced for reproduction. During copulation, the cirrus of one individual connects with that of the other through the genital pore, and then exchange their