Hymenolepis egg (DIC)

This photo, taken using differential interference contrast microscopy, clearly shows the larval hooks of the hexacanth embryo contained within the egg. The hooks have the same basic structure as the scolex hooks, but these hooks do not become part of the future scolex. Instead, they are under muscular control and help pull the embryo into the hemocoel of its beetle first intermediate host. Then, they are discarded in a vestigial structure called the cercomer.