The adults can reach more than 10 m (up to 30 ft) in length in some species such as "D. latum," with more than 3,000 proglottids.
V 70-ih letih prejšnjega stoletja je bila večina primerov difilobotriaze prisotna v Evropi (okoli 5 milijonov) in Severni Ameriki (okoli 4 milijone), v Afriki in Avstraliji pa je bil delež znatno manjši.