Type host: Parascalops breweri (Bachman, 1842), Hairy-tailed mole.

Other hosts: None reported to date.

Type locality: NORTH AMERICA: USA, Ohio, Ashtabula Co.

Geographic distribution: NORTH AMERICA: USA, Massachustetts, Ohio.

Description of oocyst: Oocyst shape: subspheroid; number of walls: 2; wall thickness: >1.0; wall characteristics: outer layer sculptured, rough, ~2/3 of total thickness; inner layer smooth; L x W: 14.8 x 12.9 (12-17 x 11-15); L/W ratio: 1.1 (1.1-1.3); M: absent; OR: absent; PG: absent. Distinctive features of oocyst: none.

Description of sporocysts and sporozoites: Sporocyst shape: ovoid; L x W: 9.2 x 6.3 (7-13 x 5-8); L/W ratio: 1.45 (1.1-1.9); SB: present as a thick, rounded dome; SSB: absent; PSB: absent; SR: present; SR characteristics: 5-10 clumped globules that overlie the SP; SP: obscured by SR. Distinctive features of sporocyst: thick, rounded dome-like SB without SSB.

Prevalence: 12/16 (75%) P. breweri, including 8/9 (89%) from Franklin Co., MA and 4/7 (57%) from Ashtabula Co., Ohio.

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

Prepatent and patent periods: Unknown.

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

Materials deposited: Skin, skull, skeleton and tissues of the symbiotype host are preserved in the Mammal Divison of the Museum of SW Biology, UNM: MSB No. 43419 (NK 3121, male), K. McBee #120, 29 June, 1980. Photosyntypes in the USNPC No. 80586.

Remarks: Oocysts of this species resemble in size only those of I. neurotrichi and I. dymecodi, both from shrew moles from the USA and Japan, respectively (Duszynski, 1985; Duszynski and Moore, 1986). Oocysts of I. parascalopi differ from those of I. neurotrichi by lacking a PG, in the number of oocyst wall layers (3 vs 2), in the difference of the outermost wall layer texture (rough vs smooth), and by the size of the SB. They differ from those of I. dymecodi by having a multi-layered oocyst wall, lacking a PG, and having sporocysts with SB.

References: Ford and Duszynski (1989).