Eimeria californicensis Duszynski, Scott, Aragon, Leach, and Perry, 1999
Type host: Myotis californicus (Audubon and Bachman, 1842), California myotis.
Other hosts: None reported to date.
Type locality: NORTH AMERICA: USA, California, El Dorado Co., 9.7 km east of Somerset.
Other localities: NORTH AMERICA: USA, New Mexico, San Juan Co., 36º 52' 09" N, 107º 41' 22" W.
Geographic distribution: NORTH AMERICA: USA, California, New Mexico.
Description of oocyst:
Oocyst shape: spheroidal to subspheroidal;
number of walls: 2;
wall thickness: 1.3-1.5;
wall characteristics: outer, rough, ~2/3 of total thickness; inner, dark, smooth;
L x W: 20.7 x 18.2 (19-23 x 16-20);
L/W ratio: 1.1 (1.0-1.3);
M: absent;
OR: absent;
PG: 1-7, tiny.
Distinctive features of oocyst: numerous tiny PGs.
Description of sporocysts and sporozoites:
Sporocyst shape: ovoidal;
L x W: 11.2 x 7.3 (10-12 x 7-8);
L/W ratio: 1.6 (1.4-1.7);
SB: present, pointed;
SSB: absent;
PSB: absent;
SR: present;
SR characteristics: 4-8 medium-sized granules between the SP or along 1 wall of sporocyst;
SP: with 1 posterior RB.
Distinctive features of sporocyst: none.
Prevalence: 3/5 (60%) from El Dorado Co., California; 3/33 (9%) from San Juan Co., New Mexico.
Sporulation: Presumably exogenous. Oocysts sporulated in 2% aqueous (w/v) potassium dichromate solution in the field.
Prepatent and patent periods: Unknown.
Site of infection: Unknown. Oocysts recovered from feces.
Materials deposited: Symbiotype host deposited in the Museum of SW Biology, UNM: MSB No. 40654 (NK 576, 10 June 1979). Photosyntypes of sporulated oocysts in the USNPC No. 88096.
Remarks: Sporulated oocysts of E. californicensis have some features similar to those of E. eumopos in that they both have SB, but lack a M, SSB, and OR. They differ from E. eumopos by being smaller (21 x 18 vs 35 x 28), by having a thinner oocyst wall (1.5 vs 1.9) without radial striations, and by having smaller amd more numerous PGs. E. californicensis differs from three other, similar, Eimeria species described from Myotis as follows: E. catronensis is ellipsoidal and has a M; E. pilarensis is smaller and spheroidal (15.0 x 14.1) with a smooth outer oocyst wall; and E. kunmingensis is smaller (17.5 x 16) and has a smooth outer wall.
References: Duszynski et al. (1999).