Tropical brown dog tick - Rhipicephalus linnaei whole genome sequence

The brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) parasitises dogs. Over the past decade, two distinct lineages have been recognised - R. sanguineus sensu lato "temperate lineage" and R. sanguineus sensu lato "tropical lineage". The nominal taxon R. sanguineus (Latreille, 1806) was associated with the "temperate lineage". Here, we associate Rhipicephalus linnaei (Audouin, 1826) with the "tropical lineage" using material from Australia, where no other Rhipicephalus species parasitises dogs. Whole genome sequencing of R. linnaei from Australia, Fiji and Laos enabled assembly of their complete mitochondrial DNA (approx. 15kb) confirming the genetic identity and distinctness from all other known species within the brown dog tick species complex. Accordingly, we are formally justified in using R. linnaei for the "tropical lineage".