Type host: Sorex araneus Linnaeus, 1758, Eurasian common shrew.

Other hosts: None to date.

Type locality: EUROPE: Bulgaria, area of the Rila Mountains.

Geographic distribution: EUROPE: Bulgaria.

Description of oocyst: Oocyst shape: spheroid to subspheriod; number of walls: 2; wall thickness: unknown, but probably ~1.0; wall characteristics: outer, colorless, smooth, ~2/3 of total.; L x W: 17 x 17 (spheroid), 16-18.5 x 15-18 (subspheroid); L/W ratio: 1.0; M: absent; OR: absent; PG: 1-2. Distinctive features of oocyst: none.

Description of sporocysts and sporozoites: Sporocyst shape: ovoid; L x W: 12.5 x 9.5; L/W ratio: 1.3; SB: absent (?--see line drawing); SSB: absent; PSB: absent; SR: present; SR characteristics: diffuse, small granules between the SP; SP: with a distinct RB at one end (line drawing), although this was not stated in the original description. Distinctive features of sporocyst: ovoid shape without a SB.

Prevalence: 2/52 (4%).

Sporulation: Exogenous. Oocysts sporulated in 48 hours in 3% aqueous potassium dichromate solution at 24 C.

Prepatent and patent periods: Unknown.

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

Materials deposited: None.

Remarks: Golemansky's (1978) original desciption did not mention the presence of a SB on the sporocyst; however, his line drawing showed that one end of the sporocyst is distinctly pointed, a structural feature that usually indicates a SB is present. This species was reported again by Golemansky (1979) from S. araneus from the Parangalista Reserve, Bulgaria; it is not clear if these are the same host animals used in the original description (see Remarks under E. neomyi).

References: Golemansky (1978, 1979).