Synonyms: None.

Type host: Python sebae (Gmelin, 1789), African rock python.

Other hosts: Python molurus L. 1758, Indian python.

Type locality: EUROPE: England, London Zoological Gardens.

Geographic distribution: EUROPE: England.

Description of oocyst: Oocyst shape: ovoidal; number of walls: 3; wall thickness: not given; wall characteristics: outer layer a delicate membrane, middle layer double contoured from 0.5-0.8 thick, yellow and composed of a transparent hyaline substance; inner layer a delicate colorless membrane; L x W: 27.5 x 17 (17-36 x 11.5-21); L/W ratio: 1.6; M: present, 2.5-3.5 wide; OR: present; OR characteristics: an irregular mass of several different sized globules (line drawing); PG: absent. Distinctive features of oocyst: large size variation of oocysts and the presence of a distinct M.

Description of sporocysts and sporozoite: Sporocyst shape: ovoidal; L x W: 6-14 x 4.5-9; L/W ratio: not given; SB: present as a small cap-like structure at the pointed end of sporocyst; SSB: absent; PSB: absent; SR: present; SR characteristics: considerable quantity of various sized granules, irregularly scattered over SZs; SZ: elongate, club-shaped bodies, 5.8-12.5 x 2-4.5 with 1-2 RBs, a larger one at the broad end and a smaller one often at the narrow end; N sometimes visible, central, with a large central karyosome. Distinctive features of sporocysts: massive SR of various sized granules.

Prevalence: 2/2 (100%), 1/1 in each host.

Sporulation: Exogenous. Triffitt (1925) said that oocysts sporulated in 7 days at room temperature in feces kept without the addition of any mositure.

Prepatent and patent periods: Unknown.

Site of infection: Unknown. Oocysts found in fecal material.

Endogenous development: Unknown.

Materials deposited: None.

Remarks: Triffitt (1925) examined the feces of both P. sebae and P. molurus, kept in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London and, on 2 occasions, found similar oocysts in their feces concluding they were the same species. Since she included a line drawing and a reasonable description of the sporulated oocyst, we include this as a valid species. However, we caution that given the wide variance in oocyst lengths and widths seen by Triffitt (1925), and the presence of a micropyle (the only one, to date, in snake eimerids), it is possible that the oocysts she saw were those of poultry eimerians that had been ingested along with the snake's last meal. Later, Prasad (1963) said he found oocysts of this species in the feces of P. molurus, also collected from a snake held captive in the London Zoological Gardens. The few (N=20) oocysts he measured were 33.8 x 19.0 (27.5-40.5 x 15-24) with a L:W ratio of 1.7 (1.7-1.8); sporocysts were 10.5-15 x 6-9.5, without a SB. However, the size of the sporocysts and line drawings suggest that he may have been dealing with a separate species. This, too, is most likely a pseudoparasite.