Summary
The present report deals with a study of the osmoregulation of young Hymenolepis microstoma using the in vitro cultivation at different osmotic pressures: i.e. in eleven media with freezing point depressions ranging from 0.35 to 1.21° C. It has been shown that H. microstoma is able to develop optimally and equally well in media with freezing point depressions from 0.50 to 0.73° C. The worm seems to have a regulatory system operating successfully between these approximate limits. Media with lower or higher osmotic pressures do not cause death within the present experimental conditions but inhibit development gradually.
It is concluded that, although cestodes are regarded as poikilosmotic, the present results with H. microstoma indicate that homoiosmotic properties might exist within a certain limited range of osmotic pressures.
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References
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Supported by a N.A.T.O. grant.
Encouragement by Prof. Dr. C. A. Hopkins is gratefully acknowledged.
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De Rycke, P.H., Evans, W.S. Osmoregulation of Hymenolepis microstoma . Z. Parasitenk. 38, 147–151 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00329026
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00329026