ABOUT TAPEWORMS
Tapeworms (or cestodes) are a Class of platyhelminths that as adults are obligate parasites in the gut of vertebrates. They themselves lack a digestive system and are unique in their possession of elaborations called microtriches throughout their outer surface; among other functions, these structures appear to aid in absorption of nutrients. The life cycles of tapeworms are complex often involving a series of 3 or more hosts; they transfer between these hosts when one host consumes another. The ~6,000 tapeworm species comprise 18 Orders that differ most conspicuously in the form of their attachment structure, the scolex.
