The complete mitochondrial genome of the parasitic sheep ked Melophagus ovinus (Diptera: Hippoboscidae)

The complete mitochondrial genome (15,573 bp) of an understudied sheep parasite Melophagus ovinus was sequenced and characterized. Its organization and characteristics, including the size, structure, gene order, start/stop codon usage and gene overlaps, are largely typical for Diptera. It exhibits very high A + T bias (81%). Posterior probability values in the inferred phylogenetic dendrogram were very high, but Oestroidea and Muscoidea superfamilies were both paraphyletic. The sequence was nested within the Oestridae clade, thus also rendering the family paraphyletic. A larger number of Hippoboscoidea mitogenomes will have to be available to achieve a better phylogenetic resolution.