New Zealand Journal of Zoology abstracts
Distribution and phylogenetic analyses of an endangered tick, Amblyomma
sphenodonti
Hilary C. Miller1
Ailis M. Conrad1
Stephen C. Barker2
Charles H. Daugherty1
1Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution
School of Biological Sciences
Victoria University of Wellington
PO Box 600
Wellington 6140, New Zealand
hilary.miller@vuw.ac.nz
2Parasitology Section
School of Molecular and Microbial Sciences
University of Queensland
Brisbane 4072
Queensland, Australia
Abstract In this study we investigate the
geographic distribution, genetic diversity, and phylogenetic
relationships of an endangered tick,
Amblyomma sphenodonti
(Family Ixodidae).
Amblyomma sphenodonti and its host, the
tuatara (Sphenodon), are found only on small offshore islands around
New Zealand. Our results show that
Amblyomma sphenodonti has a
more severely restricted geographic distribution than its host, as it
was found on only eight of 28 islands (four out of 12 island groups)
where tuatara still live. The prevalence of A. sphenodonti is likely to
have been affected by low host density and fluctuations in host
population size as tuatara populations became isolated on offshore
islands. Analysis of
A. sphenodonti cytochrome oxidase 1 (CO1)
sequences indicated a lack of gene flow between islands, with fixed
differences in CO1 sequences between islands, but almost no genetic
diversity within island populations. A similar phylogenetic pattern to
that observed in tuatara mtDNA was observed, indicating co-evolution of
two species, at least since the Pleistocene. Phylogenetic analysis
using 18S rRNA sequences suggest that
A. sphenodonti is not
closely related to other
Amblyomma species, and that a separate
genus for this species may be warranted. However, data from other
ixodid ticks are required before the distinctiveness of
A.
sphenodonti can be confirmed and the phylogenetic relationships
among ixodid ticks fully understood.
Keywords Acari; Ixodidae; parasite conservation;
Sphenodon;
tuatara
Z06033; Online publication date 5 April 2007; Received 16 October 2006;
accepted 20 February 2007
New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 2007, Vol. 34: 97–105
0301–4223/07/3402–0097 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2007
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