Taeniidae

Taeniidae
Life cycle of Echinococcus granulosus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Platyhelminthes
Class:	Cestoda
Order:	Cyclophyllidea
Family:	Taeniidae Ludwig, 1886

The Taeniidae /tɪˈnaɪ.ɪdiː/ are a family of tapeworms. It is the largest family representing the order Cyclophyllidea.^[1] It includes many species of medical and veterinary importance, as Taenia solium (pork tapeworm), Taenia saginata (beef tapeworm), and Echinococcus granulosus. The Taeniidae are parasites of mammals and many are infectious to humans.

Taxonomy

The family includes four genera:

• Echinococcus Rudolphi, 1801
• Hydatigera Lamarck, 1816
• Taenia Linnaeus, 1758
• Versteria Nakao, Lavikainen, Iwaki, Haukisalmi, Konyaev, Oku, Okamoto & Ito, 2013 ^[2]

Life cycle

Taeniidae parasites are distinguished by their terrestrial lifecycles, which include a dormant stage called a metacestode. These develop in the intermediate host's tissue when eggs are consumed. The eggs hatch into an oncosphere, which passes through the intestinal wall and forms the metacestode. An example is either cysticercoid, cysticercus, or a hydatid cyst. The definitive host is infected when the metacestode is consumed.

References

1. "taeniid". www.aavp.org. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
2. Nakao, Minoru; Lavikainen, Antti; Iwaki, Takashi; Haukisalmi, Voitto; Konyaev, Sergey; Oku, Yuzaburo; Okamoto, Munehiro; Ito, Akira (2013). "Molecular phylogeny of the genus Taenia (Cestoda: Taeniidae): Proposals for the resurrection of Hydatigera Lamarck, 1816 and the creation of a new genus Versteria". International Journal for Parasitology. 43 (6): 427–437. doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2012.11.014. ISSN 0020-7519. PMID 23428901.