Protostrongylus		Contents		Rev 10/25/2025
Lungworms		Classification		Biology and Ecology
		Morphology and Anatomy		Life Cycle
Return to Protostrongylus Menu				Ecosystem Functions and Services
		Distribution		Management
Return to Protostrongylidae Menu		Feeding		References
		Go to Nemaplex Main Menu		Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Classification:

Chromadorea

  Rhabditia

    Rhabditida

      Metastongyloidea

        Protostrongylidae

Type species of the genus: Protostrongylus rufescens (Leuckart, 1865) Kamensky, 1905

Synonyms:

Strongylus Muller, 1780

Synthetocaulus Railliet and Henry, 1907

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Morphology and Anatomy:

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Distribution:

Worldwide distribution.

As of 2014, 29 species of Protostrongylus were described, of those, 7 species are reported from lagomorphs (Lesage et al., 2014).

Type species (Protostrongylus rufescens) described from domestic sheep (Ovis aries).

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Feeding:

Food Sources and Feeding strategies for the genus Protostrongylus

Lungworms of sheep, goats, and lagomorphs.

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Biology and Ecology:

The majority of species of Protostrongylus are parasites of ungulates (Dougherty and Goble, 1946).

Intermediate hosts are snails.

Protostrongylus coburni has been reported in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus borealis) (Goble, 1941; Loginova et al., 2023)

Transplacental transmission of Protostrongylus stilesi and Protostrongylus rushi can occur in bighorn sheep (Marchiondo, 2020)

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Life Cycle:

Intermediate hosts are snails.

Transplacental transmission of Protostrongylus stilesi and Protostrongylus rushi can occur in bighorn sheep (Marchiondo, 2020)

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

Although very common, none are considered major pathogens and are of little economic importance, but they may serve as suitable parasiticide testing models. (Marchiondo, 2020)

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References:

Dougherty, E.C., Goble, F.C.  1946. The Genus Protostrongylus Kamenskii, 1905 (Nematoda: Metastrongylidae), and Its Relatives: Preliminary Note. J. Parasitol. 32:7-16.

Goble FC 1941 Tissue changes in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus Virginianus Borealis) accompanying natural infections of lungworms (genera Protostrongylus and Dictyocaulus). J Wildlife Manag 5:141-158. 

Kamenskii S.N. 1905.  Sistematicheskoe polozhenie radov Metastrongylus Wost. i Protostrongylus g. n. sredi drugikh Strongylidae. Sborn. Trudov Khar'kov. Vet. Inst. 7:17-50.

Lesage, C., Jouet, D., Patrelle, C., Guitton, C.S., Decors, A., Ferte, H. 2014. Protostrongylus pulmonalis (Frolich, 1802) and P. oryctolagi Babou, 1955 (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae), parasites of the lungs of European hare (Lepus europaeus L.) in France: morphological and molecular approaches. Parasitol Res  113:2103-2111

Marchiondo, A.A. 2020. Nematoda, Metastrongyloidea. Chapter 2 in Marchiondo, Cruthers and Fourie (eds) Parasiticide Screening Vol 2. Academic Press

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Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: October 25, 2025.

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