Type host: Talpa europaea Linnaeus, 1758, European mole.

Other hosts: None reported to date.

Type locality: EUROPE: England, Avon, 1.0 km E of the town of Frenchay.

Geographic distribution: EUROPE: England.

Description of oocyst: Oocyst shape: ellipsoid to sub-ellipsoid ; number of walls: 2; wall thickness: ~1.0; wall characteristics: outer mammillated, ~2/3 of total thickness and gives a striated appearance in optical cross section; inner, transparent; L x W: 17.1 x 11.4 (13-21 x 8-14); L/W ratio: 1.5 (1.25-2.1); M: absent; OR: absent; PG: absent. Distinctive features of oocyst: rough outer wall and striated appearance in optical cross section.

Description of sporocysts and sporozoites: Sporocyst shape: elongate-ellipsoid, tapering toward both ends; L x W: 11.9 x 5.9 (9-16 x 4-8); L/W ratio: 1.95 (1.3-2.6); SB: present; SSB: present, about same width as SB and best seen with bright field otpics; PSB: absent; SR: present; SR characteristics: many small globules forming a spheroid body or of several large globules; SP: SP and RB not mentioned in the original description. Distinctive features of sporocyst: pointed at both ends and large size of SR.

Prevalence: 27/33 (82%).

Sporulation: Oocysts were sporulated when returned to the laboratory from the field.

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 Division of the Museum of SW Biology, UNM: MSB No. 48363(female), T.L. Yates #1102, 22 August, 1982. Photosyntypes in the USNPC No. 85995.

Remarks: Oocysts of this species are similar in size to those of I. talpae, also from the European mole from Italy (Agostinucci, 1955). They differ, however, by lacking a M, by having a mammillated outer oocyst wall, by possessing a SSB, and by having sporocysts that taper to a point opposite the SB.

References: Agostinucci (1955); Duszynski and Wattam (1988).