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Ticks from mainland Australia (Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland) and Tasmania, identified morphologically as either Ixodes holocyclus or Ixodes cornuatus, were compared genetically using 24 enzyme loci. The results showed that ticks from three localities in Victoria were genetically similar to I. cornuatus in Tasmania, but both groups had fixed genetic differences at >45% of loci compared with other ticks on the mainland. In addition, there were fixed genetic differences at 0-60% of loci among I. holocyclus from different localities on the mainland. Ixodes holocyclus samples could be divided into four distinct clusters (with fixed genetic differences >15%), three of which were represented by one or two specimens. Nonetheless, these electrophoretic data suggest that I. holocyclus represents a species complex. The results also showed that the morphological criteria used to identify specimens were not always accurate because several specimens had been mis-identified morphologically. Despite limitations with the morphological identification, this study has demonstrated that I. cornuatus can be distinguished from the I. holocyclus species complex using six enzyme loci, providing the foundation for a re-examination of morphological characteristics. The present study has shown that I. cornuatus and the I. holocyclus complexes have a greater distribution than previously reported, with both occurring in sympatry at Cape Patterson, on the southern coastline of Victoria.

Specimens of Paramacropostrongylus iugalis and P. typicus, collected from eastern (Macropus giganteus) and western (M. fuliginosus) grey kangaroos in New South Wales and Queensland, were examined morphologically and electrophoretically at 4 enzyme loci previously demonstrated to be diagnostic between the 2 species. Collections of P. iugalis from M. giganteus from outside the zone of sympatry of the 2 kangaroo species conformed electrophoretically and morphologically with previous studies. Within the zone of sympatry, the 2 nematode species were distinguishable electrophoretically, with most P. iugalis occurring in M. giganteus and all P. typicus occurring in M. fuliginosus. Some specimens of P. iugalis were identified in M. fuliginosus and, in both host species, nematodes were encountered with electrophoretic profiles intermediate between P. iugalis and P. typicus. The frequent occurrence in these specimens of heterozygotes suggested that the genetic barriers between the 2 nematode species were not complete and that genetic interchange (i.e. hybridisation) was occurring.