Data from: Unexpected absence of genetic separation of a highly diverse population of hookworms from geographically isolated hosts

The high natal site fidelity of endangered Australian sea lions (Neophoca
cinerea) along the southern Australian coast suggests that their
maternally transmitted parasitic species, such as hookworms, will have
restricted potential for dispersal. If this is the case, we would expect
to find a hookworm haplotype structure corresponding to that of the host
mtDNA haplotype structure; that is, restricted among geographically
separated colonies. In this study, we used a fragment of the cytochrome c
oxidase I mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene to investigate the diversity of
hookworms (Uncinaria sanguinis) in N. cinerea to assess the importance of
host distribution and ecology on the evolutionary history of the parasite.
High haplotype (h = 0.986) and nucleotide diversity (π = 0.013) were seen,
with 45 unique hookworm mtDNA haplotypes across N. cinerea colonies; with
most of the variation (78%) arising from variability within hookworms from
individual colonies. This is supported by the low genetic differentiation
co-efficient (GST = 0.007) and a high gene flow (Nm = 35.25) indicating a
high migration rate between the populations of hookworms. The haplotype
network demonstrated no clear distribution and delineation of haplotypes
according to geographical location. Our data rejects the vicariance
hypothesis; that female host natal site fidelity and the transmammary
route of infection restrict hookworm gene flow between N. cinerea
populations and highlights the value of studies of parasite diversity and
dispersal to challenge our understanding of parasite and host ecology.