Strongyloides spearei n. sp. (Nematoda: Strongyloididae) from the common wombat Vombatus ursinus (Marsupialia: Vombatidae)

Strongyloides spearei n. sp. is described from the small intestine of the common wombat Vombatus ursinus from Healesville, Victoria. The new species is distinguished from all known congeners by: the triangular shape of the stoma and the length of the parasitic female; the blunt spicules in the free-living male; and the presence of eggs in the faeces of the host. S. spearei and S. thylacis Mackerras, 1959 form a separate group withinStrongyloides based on both species infecting marsupials, having directly recurrent ovaries in the parasitic female and having blunt spicules in the free-living male. The histological localisation of S. spearei is predominantly within the crypts of the small intestine