How do flukes differ from tapeworms?

Whereas flukes are flattened and generally leaf-shaped, adult tapeworms are flattened, elongated, and consist of segments called proglottids. Tapeworms vary in length from 2 to 3 mm to 10 m, and may have three to several thousand segments.

What do flukes and tapeworms have in common?

Tapeworms share many features with flukes, including an outer cuticle, attachment structures, expansive reproductive organs, and complex life cycles involving intermediate hosts.

What are some major characteristics shared by tapeworms and flukes?

How are flukes and tapeworms similar? Shared Adaptations for Parasitic Lifestyle, reduced sense organs or absent, hooks or suckers for attachment, increased egg production to facilitate survival and infection of new hosts.

What are the adaptations for parasitism in tapeworms and flukes?

Parasites are adapted so that they receive maximum benefit from the host but do not kill them. Tapeworms have many adaptations such as strong suckers and hooks for attachment to the lining of the small intestine. Tapeworms are thin and flattened and have a very large surface area for absorption of nutrients.

What’s the difference between a tapeworm and a fluke?

Most of the flukes are hermaphroditic except blood flukes. All tapeworms are hermaphroditic. Both flukes and tapeworms are human parasites which cause digestive system related complications upon infection. They are administered to the body via consumption of contaminated food and raw meat.

How does a tapeworm attach to a host?

Tapeworms and flukes have suckers and other structures for feeding on a host. Tapeworms also have a scolex, a ring of hooks on their head to attach themselves to the host (see Figure below ). Unlike other invertebrates, tapeworms lack a mouth and digestive system.

What kind of body does a fluke have?

They are 7- 8 cm in length and have a dorsoventrally flattened body. They are bilaterally symmetrical. Flukes are parasites and possess an oral sucker which helps them to suck the host fluids and a ventral sucker which helps them to cling to the host.

What do tapeworms and Platyhelminthes have in common?

Platyhelminthes are flatworms such as tapeworms and flukes. Flatworms have a mesoderm cell layer and simple organ systems. They also show cephalization and bilateral symmetry. Many flatworms are parasites with vertebrate hosts. Some are free-living carnivores that live mainly in aquatic habitats.