| First insight into tick fauna of the striped hyena, Hyaena hyaena in Iran |
| Paper ID : 1045-IPCA4 (R2) |
| Authors |
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Mahdi Salimi1, Asadollah Hosseini-Chegeni *2 1Department of Environmental Protection 2Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, Khorramabbad, Iran |
| Abstract |
| Introduction: Striped hyena is the only member of Hyaena genus from Hyaenidae family which lives in Iran. Prior to this study there was no information about tick fauna of this “Near Threatened” species in Iran. We aimed to present the first tick infestation record of Iranian striped hyena, H. hyaena in western Iran. Materials and methods: In 9 Feb. 2021 75 tick specimens were collected from a young dead hyena (probably due to food poisoning) in the suburbs of Khorramabad county (33°28'48.7"N 48°26'41.6"E). Numerous tick specimens were collected from all parts of the body such as; under the shoulders, around the ear, on the ribs and etc. Tick samples were examined according to morphological characters. In order to specific identification, a fragment (ca. 482-bp) of cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) was amplified by PCR. Nucleotide sequence of COI product was analyzed with BLASTn in GenBank. Results: All immature tick samples were identified as hexapod larvae of ticks belongs to the genus Ixodes according to the anal groove position. BLASTn search revealed a similarity of ca. 84% between our specimens with Ixodes lividus. A COI sequence of tick specimen was submitted to GenBank under the assigned accession numbers ON023734. Discussion: Our results confirmed the presence of an Ixodes spp. on Hyaena hyaena representing the first tick infestation record of the striped hyena in Iran. The results suggest a possible establishment of this tick species in Lorestan province western Iran. |
| Keywords |
| Tick, Wild carnivore, Identification, COI, Iran, New record |
| Status: Abstract Accepted (Poster Presentation) |