Introduction:

This book is based on a real study out of New Zealand called "Insights Using a Molecular Approach Into the Life Cycle of a Tapeworm Infecting Great White Sharks". It looks at the DNA of larve tapeworms found in a Great White Shark and compares it to DNA found in adolescent tapeworms found in cetaceans. Using a new molecular technology scientists were able to match the DNA of mature and immature tapeworms from different animals to see if these parasites travel through the food chain.

Ms. Shark And The Tapeworm Incident

Ms. Shark was the scariest, meanest animal in the ocean. But recently, she wasn't feeling quite like herself. She was eating a lot, she was tired, and didn't want to play with her shark friends.

I don't know what's wrong with me! My stomach hurts all the time and I feel sick not scary!

One day Ms. Shark was swimming when her stomach started hurting again. She got so distracted that she swam right into a net!

Oh no! I'm stuck! What will I do?

Luckily, for Ms. Shark a snorkeling scientist came along and found her!

Don't worry Ms. Shark, I'm here to help! We will bring you to shore and see what's wrong with you!

The scientists bring Ms. Shark to the hospital to see why her stomach hurts. They decided to do surgery to see what was wrong. The scientists were very surprised at what they found...

Ms. Shark, we found out why you've been feeling sick lately. You had tapeworms in the spiral valve of your intestine!

Oh my goodness!

2,536 tapeworms to be exact!

These are all the tapeworms found in Ms. Shark. They are not adults yet so they are called larvae. The scientists can not tell what kinds of tapeworms these are. But they had a hypothesis that these tapeworms might be related to tapeworms in other ocean animals, so they investigated!