Dog tapeworm (Taenia pisiformis), coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). This tapeworm has dogs and foxes as its final hosts and rabbits and har

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Dog tapeworm (Taenia pisiformis), coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). This tapeworm has dogs and foxes as its final hosts and rabbits and hares as its intermediate hosts. The hooks (yellow) at the tip of the head (scolex) are used to anchor the worm to its host's intestinal lining. It does not possess a digestive tract and so absorbs nutrients from the half-digested food of the host through the segments, or proglottids, of its body. The proglottids also have both male and female sex organs and therefore are able to produce eggs. The eggs are released into the host's intestines and are expelled with the faeces.

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Size: 2630px × 3323px
Photo credit: © STEVE GSCHMEISSNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: animal, biological, biology, body, coloured, dog, endoparasite, false-coloured, fauna, flatworm, head, hook, hooked, hooks, intestinal, invertebrate, invertebrates, nature, parasite, parasitic, pisiformis, platyhelminthes, proglottid, proglottids, scolex, segment, segmented, segments, sem, single, strobila, taenia, tapeworm, wildlife, worm, zoological, zoology