Superfamily Metastrongyloidea

 

• Most worms in this superfamily inhabit the lungs or the blood vessels adjacent to the lungs. The typical life cycle is indirect, and the intermediate host is usually a mollusc.
• They may be conveniently divided into three groups according to host; those occurring in pigs, in sheep and goats, and in the domestic carnivores.

Major Specie	F/H	I/H	Location/Site	Distribution
Metastrongylus apri (syn. Elongatus) M. salmi M. pudendotectus	Pig	Earthworms	Small bronchi and bronchioles, especially those of the posterior lobes of the lungs	Worldwide
Muellerius capillaris,	Sheep and Goat	snails and slugs	alveoli	Worldwide except for arctic and sub-arctic regions.
Proto-strongylus		snails.	small bron­chioles
Oslerus osleri	Domestic and wild dogs	Absent	Embedded in fibrous nodules in tracheal bifurcation and adjacent to bronchi.	Worldwide
Aelurostrongylus abstrusus	Cats.	Many mollusks	Lung parenchyma and small bronchioles	Worldwide
Crenosoma vulpis	Dogs and farmed foxes	Mainly land snails.	Trachea, bronchi, and bronchioles	Worldwide