Cestodes

Cestodes (tapeworms)
Characters (general):-
Tape worms consist of a round head, called a scolex, and a flat body of multiple segments called proglottides.
The scolex has specialized means of attaching to the intestinal wall, namely suckers, hooks, or sucking grooves.
The worms grows by adding new proglottids from its germinal center next to the scolex.
The oldest proglottids at the distal end are gravid and produce many eggs, which are excreted in the feces and transmitted to various intermediate hosts such as cattle, pigs and fish.
Human usually acquire the infection when undercooked flesh of the animals containing the larvae is ingested.
In certain instances, e.g. cysticercosis and hydatid disease, the eggs are ingested and the resulting the larvae cause the disease.
There are 4 medically important cestodes:-
Taenia solium, Taenia saginata, Diphyllobothrium latum, and Echinococcus granulosus.
Two cestodes of lesser importance are Echinococcus multilocularis and Hymenolepis nana.