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Moniezia

Moniezia

Moniezia

Taxonomy

  • Kingdom Animalia
  • Phylum Platyhelminthes
  • Subclass Cestoda
  • Order Cyclophyllidea
  • Family Anoplocephalidae

Final host

  • Ruminants

    Morphology

  • Adult: long wide tapeworms up to ≈ 600 cm long
  • The scolex is unarmed and has four prominent suckers
  • Segments are broader than long and contain two sets of genital organs
  • A row of inter-proglottid glands is situated at the posterior border of each segment (along the whole breadth in M. expansa or confined to the middle of the posterior margin in M. benedeni)
  • The eggs (≈ 60-75 µm) are pyramid shaped or quadrangular, according to species, and have a pyriform apparatus

    Cycle

  • Indirect
  • Intermediate hosts: oribatid mites

    Location

  • Small intestine

    Feeding

  • Intestinal contents (absorption by the tegument)

    Diagnostic

  • Gravid segments and eggs

    Transmission

  • Cysticercoid in arthropod