Egg laying in vitro of Echinostoma caproni (Trematoda) in nutritive and nonnutritive media

 Egg laying in vitro was studied in Echinostoma caproni adults placed in 10 ml of nutritive or nonnutritive media for 48 h in petri-dish cultures maintained at 37°C in an atmosphere containing 7.6% CO₂. Maximal egg laying occurred within 24 h in the defined medium RPMI 1640. Egg laying was significantly greater in this medium than in McCoy’s or Locke’s solution. Eggs released into the RPMI medium were capable of producing miracidia that were infective to Biomphalaria glabrata snails. Received: 16 October 1995 / Accepted: 4 January 1996