Type host: Scalopus aquaticus (Linnaeus, 1758), Eastern American mole.

Other hosts: None reported to date.

Type locality: NORTH AMERICA: USA, Texas, Motley Co.

Geographic distribution: NORTH AMERICA: USA, Texas.

Description of oocyst: Oocyst shape: asymmetrically ellipsoid; number of walls: 2; wall thickness: <1.0; wall characteristics: outer layer smooth, ~1/2 of total thickness; L x W: 17.0 x 10.6 (14-20 x 9-14); L/W ratio: 1.6 (1.1-2.0; M: absent; OR: absent; PG: 1. Distinctive features of oocyst: asymmetrical-ellipsoid shape with very thin wall that is easily distorted by the sporocyst.

Description of sporocysts and sporozoites: Sporocyst shape: elongate-ovoid; L x W: 9.0 x 5.2 (8-11 x 4-6); L/W ratio: 1.75 (1.7-2.0); SB: present; SSB: present, ~2 times wider than SB; PSB: absent; SR: present; SR characteristics: 3-4 membrane enclosed globules; SP: with a prominent RB at rounded end of SP. Distinctive features of sporocyst: presence of SSB and membrane-bound SR.

Prevalence: 2/13 (15%).

Sporulation: Exogenous. Oocysts sporulated in 7-10 days in 2.5% aqueous (w/v) potassium dichromate solution at 23 C.

Prepatent and patent periods: Unknown.

Site of infection: Unknown. Oocysts recovered from feces and intestinal contents.

Materials deposited: Skull, skin, skeleton and tissues of the symbiotype host are preserved in the Mammal Division of the Museum of SW Biology, UNM: MSB No. 42353 (NK 2034, female), J.A. Cook #239, 19 May 1980. Photosyntypes in the USBPC No. 85980.

Remarks: Oocysts of this species resemble, in size, those of E. avonensis, from the European mole and E. honshuensis from the Japanese shrew mole. They differ from those of the former by having oocysts with a distinct PG and sporocysts with a SSB, both of which are absent in E. avonensis. They differ from those of E. honshuensis by having oocysts that are narrower (L/W ratio 1.6 vs 1.4), with sporocysts that have a SSB and a membrane-bound SR, which are lacking in E. honshuensis.

References: Ford and Duszynski (1988).