Metastrongylus salmii

Metastrongylus salmi	Contents	Rev 09/02/2026
Swine Lungworm	Classification	Biology and Ecology
	Morphology and Anatomy	Life Cycle
Return to Metastrongylus Menu		Ecosystem Functions and Services
	Distribution	Management
Return to Metastrongylidae Menu	Feeding	References
	Go to Nemaplex Main Menu	Go to Dictionary of Terminology

Metastrongylus salmi Gedoelst, 1923

    Synonyms

Morphology and Anatomy:

Long, thin, whitish nematodes in vivo.
Anterior extremity of stoma with trilobed lips and claviform esophagus.



Males: Short copulatory bursa with some digitiform rays. Spicules intermediate length, similar in size, with transverse striations and a single hook-like structure at the end. Gubernaculum is absent.	Female: Tail curved ventrally, conical tail, Vulva close to anus covered by a short swelling. Eggs irregular, double-shelled, and embryonated. Ref: Oliveira et al., 2023
Reported median body size for this species (Length mm; width micrometers; weight micrograms) - Click:

Distribution:

Worldwide distribution, a lungworm infecting domestic pigs, wild boars, and peccary. Reported from Sus scofra in Brazil.

Feeding:

A lungworm infecting domestic pigs, wild boars, and peccary. Occur in the small bronchi and bronchioles, particularly in the posterior lobes of the lung.

Life Cycle:

Swine as definitive hosts, earthworms (annelids)as intermediate hosts.

Under optimal conditions, L1 hatch almost immediately from the egg and are ingested by the earthworm intermediate host
Development to the L3 occurs in the earthworm
Pigs ingest the earthworm with the L3 being released during digestion. L3 penetrate the wall of the intestine, pass to the mesenteric lymph nodes, and molt to the L4 which reach the lungs.
In the lungs, L4 molt to the adult stage.
Prepatent period in the definitive host is about 4 weeks. (Marchiondo, 2020)

Ecophysiological Parameters:

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

Ecosystem Functions and Services:

Management:

Anthelminthics: treatment with flubendazole.

References:

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

Oliveira, W.J., Perin, P.P., Pacheco, C.A.A., Mendonca, T.O., de Souza Pollo, A., do Amaral, R.B. et al. 2023. Integrative taxonomy of Metastrongylus spp. in wild boars from Brazil. Parasites & Vectors (2023) 16:449 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-023-06047-x

Metastrongylus salmi

Contents

Classification:

Back to Top

Morphology and Anatomy:

Back to Top

Distribution:

Back to Top

Feeding:

Back to Top

Biology and Ecology:

Back to Top

Life Cycle:

Back to Top

Ecosystem Functions and Services:

Back to Top

Management:

Back to Top

References:

Back to Top

Revised by Howard Ferris: September 02, 2026.