ABSTRACT
Cestodes or tapeworms are parasitic during all or a major portion of their lives. With few exceptions, adult cestodes possess an elongated tape-like body, and they lack a digestive tract. The latter feature separates these worms from trematodes and nematodes. Typically, the habitat of the adult tapeworm is the intestinal tract of its host. Cestode larvae, however, invade a wide range of host tissues, although most larvae demonstrate a preference for particular, species-specific, sites.
