Description of three new bat-associated species of hard ticks (Acari, Ixodidae) from Japan

Ai Takano; Takeo Yamauchi; Mamoru Takahashi; Hiroshi Shimoda; Yasuhiro Gotoh; Junko Mizuno; Michio Natsume; Jenő Kontschán; Dávid Kováts; Vuong Tan Tu; Sándor Hornok

doi:10.3897/zookeys.1180.108418

Description of three new bat-associated species of hard ticks (Acari, Ixodidae) from Japan

Zookeys. 2023 Sep 15:1180:1-26. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1180.108418. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ai Takano¹, Takeo Yamauchi², Mamoru Takahashi³, Hiroshi Shimoda¹, Yasuhiro Gotoh⁴, Junko Mizuno¹, Michio Natsume⁵, Jenő Kontschán⁶, Dávid Kováts⁷, Vuong Tan Tu^{8

9}, Sándor Hornok^{10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Veterinary Medicine, Joint Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and The United Graduate School of Veterinary Science, Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi, Japan Yamaguchi University Yamaguchi Japan.
² Laboratory of Entomology, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine Obihiro Japan.
³ Department of Anesthesiology, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan Saitama Medical University Saitama Japan.
⁴ Department of Bacteriology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan Kyushu University Fukuoka Japan.
⁵ Natural Environmental Research Group, Gunma Prefecture, Gunma, Japan Natural Environmental Research Group Gunma Japan.
⁶ Department of Plant Sciences, Albert Kázmér Faculty of Mosonmagyaróvár, Széchenyi István University, Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary Széchenyi István University Mosonmagyaróvár Hungary.
⁷ Hungarian Biodiversity Research Society, Budapest, Hungary Hungarian Biodiversity Research Society Budapest Hungary.
⁸ Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology Hanoi Vietnam.
⁹ Graduate University of Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam Graduate University of Science and Technology Hanoi Vietnam.
¹⁰ Department of Parasitology and Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Budapest, Hungary University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest Hungary.
¹¹ HUN-REN-UVMB Climate Change: New Blood-sucking Parasites and Vector-borne Pathogens Research Group, Budapest, Hungary HUN-REN-UVMB Climate Change: New Blood-sucking Parasites and Vector-borne Pathogens Research Group Budapest Hungary.

Abstract

In Eurasia, the geographically most widespread ixodid tick species of the bat families Rhinolophidae Gray, Vespertilionidae Gray, and Miniopteridae Dobson were considered to belong to four species, Ixodesvespertilionis Koch, I.collaris Hornok, I.ariadnae Hornok, and I.simplex Neumann. Previous data attest that bat-associated tick species from Eastern Asia show remarkable genetic difference from the above four tick species, but in the absence of detailed morphological comparison these were regarded as conspecific. In this study we compensate for this lack of data on three bat-associated tick species, reporting their morphological comparison, as well as molecular and phylogenetic relationships. According to the results we describe the females of three tick species new to science, i.e., I.nipponrhinolophi Hornok & Takano, sp. nov., I.fuliginosus Hornok & Takano, sp. nov., and I.fujitai Hornok & Takano, sp. nov. In case of all three new tick species the cytochrome c oxidase subunit (coxI) gene showed remarkably high sequence differences from the species that they previously were thought to belong to, well exceeding the average limit delineating ixodid tick species. This, as well as observed morphological differences fully justify their taxonomical status as new species.

Keywords: 16S rRNA gene; Chiroptera; Eschatocephalus; Ixodida; long-legged bat tick; mitochondrial.

Ai Takano, Takeo Yamauchi, Mamoru Takahashi, Hiroshi Shimoda, Yasuhiro Gotoh, Junko Mizuno, Michio Natsume, Jenő Kontschán, Dávid Kováts, Vuong Tan Tu, Sándor Hornok.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by AMED under Grant Number 22fk0108614h0602(AT), by the grant of Research Center for Thermotolerant Microbial Resources, Yamaguchi University (AT), and by the Research Fellowship of JSPS KAKENHI under Grant Number JP21K05612(TY). SH received funding from Eötvös Loránd Research Network (ELKH), Hungary (Project No. 1500107).