Vol 58, No 6 (2024)

Trematodes Diplostomum von Nordmann, 1832 are widely distributed parasites with complex life cycles involving freshwater snails as the first intermediate hosts, various fish species as the second intermediate hosts, and fish-eating birds as definitive hosts. Metacercariae of Diplostomum spp. are important fish pathogens with problematic morphological identification. The present research of Diplostomum larvae in the eyes of the freshwater bream Abramis brama was carried out within the framework of the long-term parasitological monitoring of fish in Lake Syamozero. The study has provided molecular and morphological characterization of Diplostomum spathaceum metacercariae from the lens of the freshwater bream. The partial cox1 mtDNA sequences used for molecular identification of the isolates were identical with those obtained previously, but morphological features of the metacercariae matched the literature data only in part. Comparison of different dimensions of parasites by discriminant analysis suggests that Diplostomum rutili is a junior synonym of Diplostomum spathaceum. New and archival data on diplostomids from bream’s eyes demonstrate a long-term increase in the infection prevalence.

The material for this work was based on our collection of nycteribiid flies that we obtained during bat banding in the Vladimir region in 2016–2023. A total of 1308 bats belonging to 11 species were examined. In the process of banding bats, three species of blood-sucking flies from the family Nycteribiidae parasitizing bats were discovered: Basilia nattereri Kolenati, 1857, Penicillidia monoceros Speiser, 1900, Nycteribia kolenatii Theodor et Moscona, 1954. The most widespread and frequently encountered species of nycteribiidae is Nycteribia kolenatii.

The article presents the complex of ixodid ticks of the red-backed vole on the West Siberia Plain. The following seven species (Ixodes persulcatus, I. apronophorus, I. trianguliceps, I. pavlovskyi, Dermacentor marginatus, D. reticulatus, and D. silvarum) were distinguished as parasites of the red-black vole. The quantitative indicators of ticks were traced from the herb-bunchgrass steppe to the northern taiga inclusive. I. persulcatus and I. apronophorus are widespread.

The optimum range of ixodid ticks of the red-backed vole is located in the sub-taiga. Their high diversity and abundance were recorded just there. The lowest quantitative indices are characteristic of the northern taiga. As a result, the northern and southern boundaries of the taiga tick range in the Western Siberia Plain were clarified.