BIOL 371 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: New Zealand Am Class Electric Multiple Unit, Cloaca, Digestion
Document Summary
Very long, flat bodies with a scolex (attachment site on the posterior end) which is equipped with hooks for holding on. Have no head at all, just a long series of reproductive units called proglottids. Body surface is covered with microvilli to absorb nutrients in the intestine. The youngest proglottids are at the back end by the scolex, and the mature ones are at the free end of the tape. They can fertilize themselves by folding back and exchanging sperm with proglottids nearby. They can cross fertilize with other tape worms as well. Embroyos develop in proglottid"s uterus and shed through a uterine pore. The entire proglottid can break off and eggs are shed via feces into environment. If onto grass, cattle can eat it and it migrates into the muscle making cysts. Meat with cysts in it is called measly meat. Which enters a new host when the cattle muscle is eaten undercooked.
