Echinostoma trivolvis: Mating behavior of adults raised in hamsters

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Abstract
Echinostoma trivolvis adults grown in golden hamsters were treated in vitro with [3H]-tyrosine to label sperm and transplanted to uninfected hamsters alone or with four to six unlabeled adults. After 4–5 days, worms were recovered, processed for autoradiography, and observed for silver grains over their seminal receptacles. Of 11 worms transplanted singly, 6 (55%) self-inseminated. In multiple-worm situations, 7 of 12 (58%) labeled worms self-inseminated, and in the process the 12 labeled worms inseminated only 5 of 35 (14%) possible unlabeled worms.E. trivolvis adults self-inseminated when isolated and both self- and cross-inseminated in groups, suggesting an unrestricted mating pattern. These results were compared with the mating patterns of other digenetic trematodes.