Protostrongylus pulmonalis

Protostrongylus pulmonalis	Contents	Rev 10/22/2025
a lungworm	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
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Protostrongylus pulmomalis (Frolich, 1802) Goble & Dougherty, 1943

Synonyms:

Morphology and Anatomy:

Morphological identification is generally based on posterior region of males: characteristics of bursa, spicules and gubernaculum.

Gubernaculum with two legs (crura) each with smooth edges.

Reported median body size for this species (Length mm; width micrometers; weight micrograms) - Click:

Protostrongylus pulmonalis, male posterior, a. bursa, spicules and gubernaculum. b: details of gubernaculum.
Photomicrographs from Lesage et al., 2014

Feeding:

Animal parasite, lungworm. Protostrongylus pulmomalis is a parasitite of lagomorphs (hares and rabbits).

Biology and Ecology:

Causal agent of pulmonary protostrongyliasis of lagomorphs; sometimes implicated in cyclical decline in populations of hares in Europe (Lesage et al., 2014).

The definitive host animal is infected after ingestion of third-stage larvae of the nematode which are released by snails, the intermediate host (Grewal et al. 2003). More than 3600 terrestrial snails and slugs were collected in the field in South-Eastern France. Of those, based on mo;lecular analyses o f parasites, 18 tested positive for Protostrongylus larvae. The mollusc hosts were identified by morphological and molecular characteristics. All were in the family Hygromiidae and included 4 species: Candidula gigaxii, 2 species of Cernuella sp. and Xeropicta derbentina (Lesage et al., 2015).

The infective larvae develop to adults in the lungs of the definitive host. First stage larvae released from the definitve host enter the intermediate snail or slug hosts by active or passive penetration. They migrate to the muscle of the gastropod foot where they grow to third-stage larvae in 25 to 30 days, depending on temperature (Lesage et al., 2015).

The infection is characterized by bilateral bronchopneumonia and subpleural lesions (Battisti et al. 2000) which, if extensive, reduce pulmonary function and deteriorate overall health. That reduces the ability to escape predators and increases susceptibility to secondary infections (Lesage et al., 2014).

Ecophysiological Parameters:

For Ecophysiological Parameters for this species, click	If species level data are not available, click for genus level parameters

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Ecosystem Functions and Services:

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Management:

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References:

Battisti, A., Paolo, M.D., Guardo, G.D. 2000. Pulmonary protostrongyliasis in a mountain hare from Italy. J Wildlife Dis 36:367-369.

Grewal P., Grewal, S.K., Tan, L, Adams, B . 2003. Parasitism of molluscs by nematodes: types of associations and evolutionary trends. J Nematol 35:146-156.

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

Lesage, C., Patrelle, C., Vrignaud, S., Decors, A., Ferte, H., Jouet, D. 2015. Intermediate hosts of Protostrongylus pulmonalis (Frolich, 1802) and P. oryctolagi Babos, 1955 under natural conditions in France. Parasites and Vectors 8:104. DOI 10.1186/s13071-015-0717-5