Diphyllobothriidae is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Cestoda Cestoda is a class of parasitic worms in the flatworm phylum (Platyhelminthes). Most of the species—and the best-known—are those in the subclass Eucestoda; they are ribbon-like worms as adults, commonly known as tapeworms. Their bodies co ...

(tapeworms). Members of this family are gut

parasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...

of vertebrates. In most species the definitive hosts are marine or aquatic mammals such as

cetacea Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively c ...

ns and

pinniped Pinnipeds (pronounced ), commonly known as seals, are a widely range (biology), distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous, fin-footed, semiaquatic, mostly marine mammals. They comprise the extant taxon, extant families Odobenidae (whose onl ...

s, the first intermediate host usually being a

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

and the second intermediate a fish. The genus ''

Diphyllobothrium ''Diphyllobothrium'' is a genus of cestoda, tapeworms which can cause diphyllobothriasis in humans through consumption of wikt:raw, raw or undercooked fish. The principal species causing diphyllobothriasis is ''D. latum'', known as the broad ...

'' is found as an adult in mammals and fish-eating birds, including the

domestic cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small Domestication, domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have sh ...

. The genus '' Spirometra'' tends to have a land-dwelling or semi-aquatic vertebrate as its second intermediate host, with the adults usually occurring in

felines Feline may refer to: Zoology * Loosely, Felidae, a member of the cat family, which includes the subfamilies Pantherinae and Felinae (conventionally designated a felid). ** Following the taxonomic convention, Felinae, the subfamily of Felidae that ...

Genera

The

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

lists the following genera:- *'' Adenocephalus'' Nybelin, 1931 *'' Baylisia'' Markowski, 1952 *'' Baylisiella'' Markowski, 1952 *'' Dibothriocephalus'' Lühe, 1899 *''

'' Cobbold, 1858 *'' Flexobothrium'' Yurakhno, 1989 *'' Glandicephalus'' Fuhrmann, 1921 *'' Ligula'' Bloch, 1782 *'' Multiductus'' Clarke, 1962 *'' Plicobothrium'' Rausch & Margolis, 1969 *'' Pyramicocephalus'' Monticelli, 1890 *'' Schistocephalus'' Creplin, 1829 *'' Spirometra'' Faust, Campbell & Kellogg, 1929 *''

Tetragonoporus ''Tetragonoporus'' is a genus of cestodes in the order Pseudophyllidea. It is a monotypic genus, and the only species is ''Tetragonoporus calyptocephalus'', previously known as ''Polygonoporus giganticus''. This tapeworm is a gut parasite of wh ...

'' Skryabin, 1961

References

Platyhelminthes families Cestoda {{Cestoda-stub