Rhipicephalus annulatus, R. australis or R. microplus? Discordance between morphological and genetic data among three cattle tick species

Kazim, A. R. and Low, Van Lun and Tappe, D. and Houssaini, J. and Heo, C. C. (2022) Rhipicephalus annulatus, R. australis or R. microplus? Discordance between morphological and genetic data among three cattle tick species. Experimental and Applied Acarology, 87 (1). pp. 119-131. ISSN 0168-8162, DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-022-00726-7.

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Abstract

The taxonomy of ticks of the subgenus Boophilus has been extensively debated and is often complicated by the high intraspecific variation of morphological features between species. Notably, the cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus is a species complex consisting of Rhipicephalus annulatus, Rhipicephalus australis and the three mitochondrial clades (A-C) of R. microplus. To gain insight into the taxonomic status of this species complex, we performed morphological and molecular analyses on these cattle ticks across four states in peninsular Malaysia. We morphologically identified 60 males and 104 females of R. microplus, 298 males and 374 females of R. australis, and one R. annulatus male in our field collection, of which the latter two species have never been recorded in Malaysia. However, all three morphologically identified species were molecularly assigned as R. microplus clade A based on the barcoding cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) analysis. The discrepancy between morphological and genetic data highlights an urgent need for further exploration and in-depth research into the taxonomic status of these sympatric tick species.

Item Type: Article
Funders: Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE) program (Grant No: MO002-2019), Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine from Hamburg, Germany
Uncontrolled Keywords: Rhipicephalus microplus; Cattle ticks; Malaysia; Subgenus Boophilus; Species complex
Subjects: Q Science > Q Science (General)
Divisions: Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation) Office > Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre
Depositing User: Ms. Juhaida Abd Rahim
Date Deposited: 20 Oct 2023 01:30
Last Modified: 20 Oct 2023 01:30
URI: http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/41867

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