Researchers discover a new tick species and reinstate another as valid

06.11.2025

Hungarian, Turkish and Israeli researchers have made a discovery of international significance: they have identified a tick species previously unknown to science and reinstated another that had not, until now, been recognised as valid. The study was led by Professor Sándor Hornok, head of the joint HUN-REN–University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest (HUN-REN–UVMB) research group, in partnership with colleagues from Turkey and Israel. The findings have been published in the International Journal for Parasitology.

By examining ticks collected from vegetation and birds across the Mediterranean, and applying both morphological and genetic analyses, the researchers established that one specimen is new to science, while another belongs to a species previously regarded as invalid. The newly discovered species from Greece has been named Ixodes paragibbosus Hornok & Kontschán, sp. nov., and the Turkish specimen has been shown to belong to Ixodes tatei, now reinstated as a valid species and distinguished from its relatives.

The significance of the discovery is heightened by the potential of these species to transmit pathogens, making the findings relevant to both veterinary and public health.

The international study was led by Professor Sándor Hornok, in cooperation with Professors Adem Keskin (Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University, Turkey) and Igor Uspensky (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel). Dr Jenő Kontschán, Director-General of the HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research, and Attila Sándor, a research fellow with the HUN-REN–UVMB group, also played key roles.

Within the tick family, the genus Ixodes is the largest, comprising roughly one-third of all known tick species. In the Palaearctic region, the most species-rich subgenus is likewise Ixodes, with more than twenty species occurring. In Europe, species richness increases from north to south; however, the occurrence and taxonomic status of certain Ixodes species in the central and eastern Mediterranean have long been debated.

As Ixodes ticks of unknown or disputed status are relatively rare in the Mediterranean, the study took around ten years to complete. Under Professor Hornok’s coordination, earlier collections were augmented with samples from Turkey (Adem Keskin), Israel (Igor Uspensky), Greece (Jenő Kontschán), Romania (Attila Sándor) and Hungary (Andor Pitó). The specimens were examined using high-resolution digital microscopy and PCR-based molecular and subsequent phylogenetic analyses. These investigations revealed that all six species studied represent distinct taxa within the subgenus Ixodes, including a previously unknown sister species to Ixodes gibbosus—now described as Ixodes paragibbosus Hornok & Kontschán, sp. nov.—and that Ixodes tatei Arthur, 1959 (mistakenly synonymised with I. eldaricus) should be considered valid.

Female of the newly described species Ixodes paragibbosus.