Synonyms: Eimeria propria of Matsubayashi, 1937 pro parte.

Type host: Cynops pyrrhogaster (Boie, 1826), Japanese fire-bellied newt.

Other hosts: None reported to date.

Type locality: ASIA: Japan, exact locality unknown.

Geographic distribution: ASIA: Japan.

Description of oocyst: Oocyst shape: spheroidal to ovoidal; number of walls: 1; wall thickness: not given; wall characteristics: smooth; L x W: 42.8 x 39.9 (38-45 x 34.5-45); L/W ratio: 1.1; M: absent; OR: present; OR characteristics: a large spheroidal body, 28.3 (24-31), composed of many granules that become coarse at its periphery, all enclosed in a thin membrane; PG: absent. Distinctive features of oocyst: large size and large membrane-bound OR.

Description of sporocysts and sporozoite: Sporocyst shape: spindle-shaped; L x W: 22.2 x 8.2; L/W ratio: 2.7; SB: absent; SSB: absent; PSB: absent; SR: present; SR characteristics: composed of clusters of loose granules dispersed through sporocysts; SZ: shorter than length of sporocyst with a spheroidal RB (or N?) centrally located. Distinctive features of sporocysts: spindle-shape and all 4 are always found attached to the surface of the OR

Prevalence: 1 of 90 (1%).

Sporulation: Unknown. Although Matubayasi (1937) specifically stated, “Formation of the sporozoites in the oocyst are completed in the intestine of the host,” it is unclear if these oocysts sporulate in the intestinal cells (endogenous sporulation) of the host or in the lumen of the intestine (exogenous sporulation).

Prepatent and patent periods: Unknown.

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

Endogenous development: Unknown.

Materials deposited: None.

Remarks: This is the “third type" of oocyst reported by Matubayasi (1937) in T. pyrrhogaster (=C. pyrrhogaster), which he identified as a variety of his second type, E. propria, although he also said, “It is hardly possible to determine for the present whether this type belongs to either E. spherica or E. propria, or to a new species.” The oocysts of this species are considerably shorter than those of E. propria. Thus, we agree with Upton et al. (1993) that it deserves separate species status.