Scolex Health Dictionary

The protuberant anterior part of the scolex of certain tapeworms. May be unarmed or armed with rows of hooklets.... rostellum

A longitudinal groove in the scolex of pseudophyllidean tapeworms.... bothrium

Tapeworms, which are segmented Platyhelminths (Flatworms) consisting, in their adult stage, of a scolex for attachment to the gut of the final host, an unsegmented neck region and a long segmented strobila consisting of immature, mature and gravid proglottids (segments).... cestoda

The connecting tissues between the scolex and strobila of a tapeworm. This part is unsegmented.... neck

The scolex of a larval stage of the hydatid tapeworm. Morphologically it resembles the adult scolex.... protoscolex

(bladderworm) n. a larval stage of some *tapeworms in which the scolex and neck are invaginated into a large fluid-filled cyst. The cysts develop in the muscles or brain of the host following ingestion of tapeworm eggs. See cysticercosis.... cysticercus

(cestode) n. any of a group of flatworms that have a long thin ribbon-like body and live as parasites in the intestines of humans and other vertebrates. The body of a tapeworm consists of a head (scolex), a short neck, and a strobila made up of a chain of separate segments (proglottides). Mature proglottides, full of eggs, are released from the free end of the worm and pass out in the host’s stools. Eggs are then ingested by an intermediate host, in whose tissues the larval stages develop (see plerocercoid; cysticercus; hydatid). Humans are the primary hosts for some tapeworms (see Taenia; Hymenolepis). However, other genera are also medically important (see Diphyllobothrium; Dipylidium; Echinococcus).... tapeworm