Morphology con't: The Scolex

The Scolex

• located at the anterior most end, the scolex is equipped with a varity of holdfast organs the purpose of which is to ensure the worm maintains its position in the gut of the host
• it can be equipped with suckers, grooves, spines, glands, tentacles or any combination of these
• suckers occur in three (very) general types

1. Acetabula: cup shaped with a heavy muscular wall, there are normally four present on one tapeworm. Hooks can be arranged in circles anterior to the suckers. These are located on a protrusible, dome-shaped area on the apex of the scolex called a rostellum.
2. Bothridia: also usually occur in groups of four. The have mobile, leaf-like margins, project sharply from the scolex and are quite muscular.
3. Bothridia: two to six can occur in a tapeworm. They are shallow pits or grooves arranged in lateral or dorsoventral pairs