19 February 2009

Tapeworm from the Little Shop of Horrors


This is a scanning electron micrograph of the scolex (i.e., anterior attachment organ) of Rhinebothrium sp., a tapeworm in the new order Rhinebothriidea. The scolex is about 900 µm wide. This species, like all rhinebothriideans, has 4 bothridia on its scolex, each borne on a muscular stalk. Credit: Claire J. Healy
This new discovery is a group of tapeworms that parasitize stingrays, and grow to about 1 foot in length (human tapeworms grow to 30 feet in length).

Credit to Alex at Neatorama.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...