Sharifiella

Sharifiella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Ixodida
Family:	Ixodidae
Genus:	Sharifiella; Santos Dias, 1958
Species:	S. theilerae
Binomial name
	Sharifiella theilerae; (Hoogstraal, 1953)
Synonyms
	Haemaphysalis theilerae Hoogstraal, 1953 ;

Sharifiella is a monotypic genus of tick. Its only species is Sharifiella theilerae.^[2]^[3] The species is known only from tenrecs on Madagascar.^[2]

Description

Sharifiella theilerae is found across Madagascar. Almost all specimens, both adults and instars, were found on tailless tenrecs, with only one sample being from a greater hedgehog tenrec.^[2] Like Haemaphysalis, the species is eyeless, but has elongated palpi with only slight lateral salience at its mid-length. The basis capitulum is subtriangular with blunt lateral apices, and coxa I has both internal and external spurs.^[2]

Taxonomy and systematics

Sharifiella was formerly a subgenus of Haemaphysalis. Through phylogenies inferred from entire mitochondrial genomes and nuclear 28S rRNA, the genus was shown to be not only distinct from other Haemaphysalis, but actually basal to the Rhipicephaline lineage, not the Haemaphysaline lineage.^[2] The genus was elevated to full generic rank in 2025.

References

^ Santos Dias, J.A.T. (1958) Notes on various ticks (Acarina-Ixodoidea) in collection at some entomological institutes in Paris and London. Anais do Instituto de Medicina Tropical, 15, 459–563.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Apanaskevich, Dmitry A.; Greiman, Stephen E.; Goodman, Steven M.; Apanaskevich, Maria A.; Ahmed, Rokeya; Barker, Stephen C. (2025-04-29). "Validation of Sharifiella Santos Dias, 1958 (Acari: Ixodidae) as a genus of hard ticks containing S. theilerae (Hoogstraal, 1953), a parasite of tail-less tenrec, Tenrec ecaudatus (Schreber) (Afrosoricida: Tenrecidae) on Madagascar". Zootaxa. 5627 (3): 503–525. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5627.3.5. ISSN 1175-5334.
^ Hoogstraal, H. (1953) Ticks (Ixodoidea) of the Malagasy faunal region (excepting the Seychelles). Bulletin of Museum of Comparative Zoology, 111, 37–113.

[1] Santos Dias, J.A.T. (1958) Notes on various ticks (Acarina-Ixodoidea) in collection at some entomological institutes in Paris and London. Anais do Instituto de Medicina Tropical, 15, 459–563.

[:0-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Apanaskevich, Dmitry A.; Greiman, Stephen E.; Goodman, Steven M.; Apanaskevich, Maria A.; Ahmed, Rokeya; Barker, Stephen C. (2025-04-29). "Validation of Sharifiella Santos Dias, 1958 (Acari: Ixodidae) as a genus of hard ticks containing S. theilerae (Hoogstraal, 1953), a parasite of tail-less tenrec, Tenrec ecaudatus (Schreber) (Afrosoricida: Tenrecidae) on Madagascar". Zootaxa. 5627 (3): 503–525. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5627.3.5. ISSN 1175-5334.

[3] Hoogstraal, H. (1953) Ticks (Ixodoidea) of the Malagasy faunal region (excepting the Seychelles). Bulletin of Museum of Comparative Zoology, 111, 37–113.

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