Cryptocroton

Cryptocroton
Female Cryptocroton papuanum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Ixodida
Family:	Ixodidae
Genus:	Cryptocroton Barker & Barker, 2024[1]
Species:	C. papuanum
Binomial name
Cryptocroton papuanum (Hirst, 1914)
Synonyms
Amblyomma papuana Hirst, 1914 Amblyomma papuanum Roberts, 1964

Micrographs of a male Cryptocroton papuanum

Cryptocroton papuanum is a species of tick native to New Guinea, and Northern Queensland.^[2] Specimens have been found on ground-feeding birds, such as cassowaries and crowned pigeons, as well as on short-beaked echidnas.^[3] It is the only member of the monotypic genus Cryptocroton.

Morphology and systematics

As its name suggests, the genus is cryptic, as the specimens cannot be distinguished, morphologically, from Amblyomma. Phylogenies inferred from mitochondrial genomes and rRNA have confirmed that the genus has at least 25% pairwise genetic difference from other genera.^[2]

The species has a rounded body profile, similar to other former Aponomma, and is identifiable by its two small, widely separated coxal spurs and midline trochanter spurs.^[4] Despite having eyes, the species may be confused for Bothriocroton concolor, an eyeless tick of echidnas present in North Queensland, which shares a similar rounded body profile and punctate male conscutum. Indeed, Cryptocroton papuanum arises from the Haematobothrion lineage, which includes the genera Bothriocroton, Alloceraea, and Haemaphysalis, among others.

Ixodidae Prostriata Ixodes Metastriata Robertsicus Amblyocephalus Amblyomma Dermacentor Rhipicentor Hyalomma Rhipicephalus Haematobothrion Cryptocroton Bothriocroton Archaeocroton Alloceraea Haemaphysalis

Ixodidae cladogram after Barker et al., (2024)[5]

References

1. Barker, Stephen C.; Kelava, Samuel; Mans, Ben J.; Apanaskevich, Dmitry A.; Seeman, Owen D.; Gofton, Alexander; Shao, Renfu; Teo, Ernest J. M.; Evasco, Kimberley L.; Soennichsen, Kari F.; Barker, Dayana; Nakao, Ryo (2024-02-12). "The first cryptic genus of Ixodida, Cryptocroton n. gen. for Amblyomma papuanum Hirst, 1914: a tick of North Queensland, Australia, and Papua New Guinea". Zootaxa. 5410 (1): 91–111. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5410.1.5. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 38480255.
2. Barker, Stephen C.; Kelava, Samuel; Mans, Ben J.; Apanaskevich, Dmitry A.; Seeman, Owen D.; Gofton, Alexander; Shao, Renfu; Teo, Ernest J. M.; Evasco, Kimberley L.; Soennichsen, Kari F.; Barker, Dayana; Nakao, Ryo (2024-02-12). "The first cryptic genus of Ixodida, Cryptocroton n. gen. for Amblyomma papuanum Hirst, 1914: a tick of North Queensland, Australia, and Papua New Guinea". Zootaxa. 5410 (1): 91–111. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5410.1.5. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 38480255.
3. Barker, Stephen C.; Barker, Dayana (2023-03-08). "Ticks of Australasia: 125 species of ticks in and around Australia". Zootaxa. 5253 (1): 1–670. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5253.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 37044756.
4. Roberts, Frederick Hugh Sherston (1970). Australian Ticks. Melbourne: CSIRO. ISBN 0643004327.
5. Barker, Stephen C.; Kelava, Samuel; Mans, Ben J.; Apanaskevich, Dmitry A.; Seeman, Owen D.; Gofton, Alexander; Shao, Renfu; Teo, Ernest J. M.; Evasco, Kimberley L.; Soennichsen, Kari F.; Barker, Dayana; Nakao, Ryo (2024-02-12). "The first cryptic genus of Ixodida, Cryptocroton n. gen. for Amblyomma papuanum Hirst, 1914: a tick of North Queensland, Australia, and Papua New Guinea". Zootaxa. 5410 (1): 91–111. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5410.1.5. ISSN 1175-5334.