Dog tapeworm
Echinococcus granulosus (Batsch, 1786)
Status not recordedworms
The dog tapeworm (Echinococcus granulosus) is a worm in the family Taeniidae, subfamily Echinococcinae, order Cyclophyllidea and class Cestoda. It belongs to the phylum Platyhelminthes in the kingdom Animalia and is a living, not extinct, species according to the Catalogue of Life.
Quick facts about the dog tapeworm
Other English names for it are hydatid worm, small tapeworm and hyper tape-worm, and checklists record it in Australia.
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- 3 mm – 6 mmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the dog tapeworm?
Photos of the dog tapeworm
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the dog tapeworm live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The dog tapeworm is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the dog tapeworm?
Echinococcus granulosus, also called the hydatid worm or dog tapeworm, is a cyclophyllid cestode that dwells in the small intestine of canids as an adult, but which has important intermediate hosts such as livestock and humans, where it causes cystic echinococcosis, also known as hydatid disease. The adult tapeworm ranges in length from 3 mm to 6 mm and has three proglottids ("segments") when intact—an immature proglottid, mature proglottid and a gravid proglottid. The average number of eggs per gravid proglottid is 823. Like all cyclophyllideans, E. granulosus has four suckers on its scolex ("head"), and E. granulosus also has a rostellum with hooks. Several strains of E. granulosus have been identified, and all but two are noted to be infective in humans.
The lifecycle of E. granulosus involves dogs and wild carnivores as a definitive host for the adult tapeworm. Definitive hosts are where parasites reach maturity and reproduce. Wild or domesticated ungulates, such as sheep, serve as an intermediate host. Transitions between life stages occur in intermediate hosts. The larval stage results in the formation of echinococcal cysts in intermediate hosts. Echinococcal cysts are slow growing, but can cause clinical symptoms in humans and be life-threatening. Cysts may not initially cause symptoms, in some cases for many years. Symptoms developed depend on location of the cyst, but most occur in the liver, lungs, or both.
Echinococcus granulosus was first documented in Alaska but is distributed worldwide. It is especially prevalent in parts of Eurasia, north and east Africa, Australia, and South America. Communities that practice sheep farming experience the highest risk to humans, but wild animals can also serve as an avenue for transmission. For example, dingoes serve as a definitive host before larvae infect sheep in the mainland of Australia. Sled dogs may expose moose or reindeer to E. granulosus in parts of North America and Eurasia.
From the Wikipedia article “Echinococcus granulosus” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Echinococcus_granulosus&oldid=1368035527), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the dog tapeworm sound like?
Is the dog tapeworm endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the dog tapeworm classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumPlatyhelminthes
- classCestoda
- orderCyclophyllidea
- familyTaeniidae
- genusEchinococcus
- SpeciesEchinococcus granulosus (Batsch, 1786)
Synonyms Echinococcus cameroni, Echinococcus cepanzoi, Echinococcus granulosus africanus, Echinococcus granulosus dusicyontis, Echinococcus intermedius, Echinococcus iraqii, Echinococcus longimanubrius, Echinococcus lycaontis, Echinococcus minimus, Echinococcus patagonicus, Hydatigena granulosa
Other names and names in other languages (11)
- Hydatid wormEnglish
- Hyper tape-wormEnglish
- Small tapewormEnglish
- مشوكة حبيبيةArabic
- měchožil zhoubnýCzech
- Hundens dværgbændelormDanish
- HundebandwurmGerman
- Echinocoque du chienFrench
- 単包条虫Japanese
- Tasiemiec bąblowcowyPolish
- ЭхинококкRussian
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWikidataWikidata
Relatives of the dog tapeworm
Other species in the same genus Echinococcus.
CompareDog tapeworm vs Fox tapewormDog tapeworm vs Echinococcus canadensisDog tapeworm vs Echinococcus equinusDog tapeworm vs Echinococcus felidis
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the dog tapeworm?
The dog tapeworm is a worm in the class Cestoda and the family Taeniidae, within the phylum Platyhelminthes.
What is the scientific name of the dog tapeworm?
The scientific name of the dog tapeworm is Echinococcus granulosus, in the genus Echinococcus.
Who named Echinococcus granulosus and when?
The scientific name authority is written as (Batsch, 1786).
What other names does the dog tapeworm have?
Other English names for the dog tapeworm are hydatid worm, small tapeworm and hyper tape-worm.
Which countries is the dog tapeworm recorded in?
Checklists record the dog tapeworm in Australia.
Is the dog tapeworm extinct?
No, the dog tapeworm is living, not extinct, according to the Catalogue of Life.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Dog tapeworm (Echinococcus granulosus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/echinococcus-granulosus
“Dog tapeworm (Echinococcus granulosus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/echinococcus-granulosus.
@misc{echinococcus_granulosus_2026,
title = {Dog tapeworm (Echinococcus granulosus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/echinococcus-granulosus},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}