The In vitro Cultivation of Tapeworms. I. Growth of Hymenolepis diminuta (Cestoda: Cyclophyllidea)

Abstract

of Mueller (1958, 1959) who has cultured Spirometra mansonoides. To the author's knowledge, the only reports on successful in vitro culture of adult cyclophyllideans is that of Schiller, Read, and Rothman (1959) who reported a 30-fold increase in growth of Hymenolepis diminuta. As previously reported (Berntzen, 1960), the cestode Hymenolepis diminuta has been successfully cultivated in vitro from excysted larvae to adults having proglottids with developing oncospheres. This method, employing a continuous flow principle, will be described in detail.