Rediscovery of Ixodes confusus in Australia with the first description of the male from Australia, a redescription of the female and the mitochondrial (mt) genomes of five species of Ixodes

Dayana Barker, Samuel Kelava, Owen D. Seeman, Renfu Shao, James R. Seaniger, Malcolm K. Jones, Maria A. Apanaskevich, Ryo Nakao, Dmitry A. Apanaskevich, Stephen C. Barker

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

We: (i) report the rediscovery of Ixodes (Sternalixodes) confusus Roberts, 1960 in Australia; (ii) redescribe the male and female of I. confusus; (iii) describe the mitochondrial (mt) genome of I. confusus from five ticks from four localities in Far North Queensland; and (iv) present the first substantial phylogeny of the subgenera of the Ixodes. The mt genomes of I. confusus, I. cornuatus, I. hirsti, I. myrmecobii and I. trichosuri are presented here for the first time. In our phylogeny from entire mt genomes (ca. 15 kb), the subgenus Endopalpiger was the sister-group to subgenera Sternalixodes plus Ceratixodes plus Exopalpiger whereas Exopalpiger was the sister to Sternalixodes plus Ceratixodes. [i.e. ((Endopalpiger) (Sternalixodes, Ceratixodes and Exopalpiger))]. Finally, we show that Ixodes anatis, the kiwi tick, may be closely related to the ticks of marsupials of Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
JournalInternational Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife
Volume18
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2022

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Parasitology
  • Animal Science and Zoology
  • Infectious Diseases

Keywords

  • Ixodida
  • Subgenus relationships
  • Systematics
  • Tick
  • Wet-tropics

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