The phylum Platyhelminthes has exceptions to the normal digestive system. Tapeworms don't have a system where nutrients are broken down and then released from the body. Rather then having to break everything down by itself, it relies on the host animal in which it lives inside of to digest the food it will eat. This parasite takes in the food and nutrients it needs from the host animal and then stores it in its proglottids. These nutrients are used by these proglottids to live and reproduce.