acanthocephala

Meaning

A phylum of parasitic worms characterized by a spiny, hook-bearing proboscis used to anchor the organism to the intestinal wall of a host.

Examples

• The life cycle of the Acanthocephala typically involves an arthropod intermediate host and a vertebrate definitive host.
• Researchers studied the morphology of the Acanthocephala to understand how they resist the digestive enzymes of their hosts.