A stage in the development of a tapeworm following the procercoid stage, which develops in an animal serving as the second or subsequent intermediate host; a wormlike nonsegmented larva with an invaginated scolex at one end, usually unencysted in the flesh of various fishes, reptiles, or amphibians, the ingestion of which transmits the parasite to the final host. SEE ALSO: Diphyllobothrium latum. [G. pleres, full, complete, + kerkos, tail]
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ple·ro·cer·coid .plir-ō-'sər-.kȯid n the solid elongate infective larva of some tapeworms esp. of the order Pseudophyllidea usu. occurring in the muscles of fishes
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n.
a larval stage of certain tapeworms, such as Diphyllobothrium. It differs from the cysticercus (another larval form) in being solid and in lacking a cyst or bladder.
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ple·ro·cer·coid (ple″ro-surґkoid) [Gr. plēroun to complete + cerc- + -oid] the wormlike completed larval stage of certain tapeworms, found in the tissues of vertebrates and invertebrates.Medical dictionary. 2011.