{{Short description|Stage of development of a tapeworm}} [[File:Vuitton et al - International consensus on terminology - parasite200043-fig2ab.png|thumb|General description of the egg and oncosphere of ''Echinococcus ''spp.]]
An '''oncosphere''' is the larval form of a tapeworm once it has been ingested by an intermediate host animal. The intermediate host must ingest the tapeworm's eggs either in food or water – once this has happened, the eggs hatch and develop into oncospheres which will then burrow through the gut wall of the intermediate host in order to access the organs or tissues of that host where they will continue the next stage of their development as ''cysticerci'' or ''bladderworms''. The bladderworm is a cyst created by the oncosphere. In order to become an adult tapeworm, a cysticercus must then be consumed by its definitive host (in either raw or undercooked meat) and establish itself by anchoring in that host's digestive tract. From there, the worm will grow in length and eventually produce proglottids which will exit the intestinal tract with other waste material and then burst, releasing the worm's eggs and completing the cycle.<ref name="VuittonMcManus2020">{{cite journal|last1=Vuitton|first1=Dominique A.|last2=McManus|first2=Donald P.|last3=Rogan|first3=Michael T.|last4=Romig|first4=Thomas|last5=Gottstein|first5=Bruno|last6=Naidich|first6=Ariel|last7=Tuxun|first7=Tuerhongjiang|last8=Wen|first8=Hao|last9=Menezes da Silva|first9=Antonio|last10=Vuitton|first10=Dominique A.|last11=McManus|first11=Donald P.|last12=Romig|first12=Thomas|last13=Rogan|first13=Michael R.|last14=Gottstein|first14=Bruno|last15=Menezes da Silva|first15=Antonio|last16=Wen|first16=Hao|last17=Naidich|first17=Ariel|last18=Tuxun|first18=Tuerhongjiang|last19=Avcioglu|first19=Amza|last20=Boufana|first20=Belgees|last21=Budke|first21=Christine|last22=Casulli|first22=Adriano|last23=Güven|first23=Esin|last24=Hillenbrand|first24=Andreas|last25=Jalousian|first25=Fateme|last26=Jemli|first26=Mohamed Habib|last27=Knapp|first27=Jenny|last28=Laatamna|first28=Abdelkarim|last29=Lahmar|first29=Samia|last30=Naidich|first30=Ariel|last31=Rogan|first31=Michael T.|last32=Sadjjadi|first32=Seyed Mahmoud|last33=Schmidberger|first33=Julian|last34=Amri|first34=Manel|last35=Bellanger|first35=Anne-Pauline|last36=Benazzouz|first36=Sara|last37=Brehm|first37=Klaus|last38=Hillenbrand|first38=Andreas|last39=Jalousian|first39=Fateme|last40=Kachani|first40=Malika|last41=Labsi|first41=Moussa|last42=Masala|first42=Giovanna|last43=Menezes da Silva|first43=Antonio|last44=Sadjjadi Seyed|first44=Mahmoud|last45=Soufli|first45=Imene|last46=Touil-Boukoffa|first46=Chafia|last47=Wang|first47=Junhua|last48=Zeyhle|first48=Eberhard|last49=Aji|first49=Tuerganaili|last50=Akhan|first50=Okan|last51=Bresson-Hadni|first51=Solange|last52=Dziri|first52=Chadli|last53=Gräter|first53=Tilmann|last54=Grüner|first54=Beate|last55=Haïf|first55=Assia|last56=Hillenbrand|first56=Andreas|last57=Koch|first57=Stéphane|last58=Rogan|first58=Michael T.|last59=Tamarozzi|first59=Francesca|last60=Tuxun|first60=Tuerhongjiang|last61=Giraudoux|first61=Patrick|last62=Torgerson|first62=Paul|last63=Vizcaychipi|first63=Katherina|last64=Xiao|first64=Ning|last65=Altintas|first65=Nazmiye|last66=Lin|first66=Renyong|last67=Millon|first67=Laurence|last68=Zhang|first68=Wenbao|last69=Achour|first69=Karima|last70=Fan|first70=Haining|last71=Junghanss|first71=Thomas|last72=Mantion|first72=Georges A.|title=International consensus on terminology to be used in the field of echinococcoses|journal=Parasite|volume=27|year=2020|pages=41|issn=1776-1042|doi=10.1051/parasite/2020024|pmid=32500855 |pmc=7273836 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Ridley2011">{{cite book|author=John Ridley|title=Parasitology for Medical and Clinical Laboratory Professionals|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xewIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA170|date=22 February 2011|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1-133-41701-9|page=170}}</ref>
==See also== * Hexacanth
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Cestoda Category:Larvae