Alexander P. Kalmykov

The article deals with the state of domestic sturgeon farming in general and commercial sturgeon farming in particular. The activity of the BIOS Centre, its role and significance in the establishment and development of commercial sturgeon farming in the country are covered in detail. The stages of formation of the enterprise itself in the development of material and technical base, improvement of personnel and scientific and production activities are described. It is shown that the Centre actually became the only enterprise in Russia that united powerful production and scientific potentials in the field of sturgeon breeding, and also gained international fame. The article contains data on the current state of the scientific-experimental aquaculture complex after the BIOS Centre became a part of the CaspNIRKh, shows its activities in the field of molecular genetic research and its contribution to the conservation and restoration of natural resources of sturgeon fish in the Volga-Caspian basin. In conclusion, materials on the organisation and holding of the exhibition complex organised by the Astrakhan Museum-Reserve in honour of the thirtieth anniversary of the BIOS Centre are presented.

The Cyathocotylidae Mühling, 1898 is a family of primitive diplostomoid trematodes important for understanding the evolution of the superfamily Diplostomoidea. However, cyathocotylids remain poorly studied with the use of molecular techniques. In this study we sequenced the 5.8S + ITS2 region, 28S rRNA, and cox1 genes of two cyathocotylid species and obtained new morphological data on them. We propose Georduboisia nom. nov. instead of the preoccupied name Duboisia Szidat, 1936 (junior homonym of Duboisia Stremme, 1911). Adults of Georduboisia cf. teganuma (Ishii, 1935) and Paracoenogonimus ovatus Katsurada, 1914 were collected from fish-eating birds in the south of the European part of Russia. Georduboisia cf. teganuma was very similar to G.teganuma but differed from it in the shape of the testes. The 28S rRNA gene dataset provided the best-resolved phylogeny of the Cyathocotylidae to date. In the phylogram based on partial sequences of this gene, P. ovatus was close to members of Holostephanoides Dubois, 1983, Neogogatea Chandler & Rausch, 1947 and Gogatea Szidat, 1936. Georduboisia cf. teganuma clustered with members of Cyathocotyle Mühling, 1896 and Holostephanus Szidat, 1936. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 5.8S + ITS2 dataset showed that adults of P. ovatus examined in our study were conspecific with the metacercariae from the musculature of fish collected in Hungary and Italy. It also revealed probable misidentifications of larvae and adults of cyathocotylids whose sequences are deposited in GenBank NCBI.

According to the current taxonomic concept, the Аpophallinae Ciurea, 1924 Ciurea, J. (1924). Heterophyidés de la faune parasitaire de Roumanie. Parasitology, 16, 1–21. (In French). https://doi.org/10.1017/S003118200001982X [Crossref] , [Google Scholar] is a monotypic subfamily of the Opisthorchiidae that comprises species with a median permanent ventrogenital sac containing a well-developed ventral sucker and two gonotyls. A recently formulated molecular hypothesis suggests polyphyly of this subfamily and the presence of two sibling species within one of the nominal species A. donicus Skrjabin & Lindrop, 1919 Skrjabin, K. I. , & Lindrop, G. T. (1919). Intestinal trematodes in Don dogs. Izvestiya Donskogo Veterinarnago Instituta, 1, 30–44. (In Russian). [Google Scholar] . In this paper, we redescribed A. donicus s. str. and renamed A. donicus auct. non Skrjabin & Lindrop, 1919 Skrjabin, K. I. , & Lindrop, G. T. (1919). Intestinal trematodes in Don dogs. Izvestiya Donskogo Veterinarnago Instituta, 1, 30–44. (In Russian). [Google Scholar] to A. lari (Leonov, 1957 Leonov, V. A. (1957). New trematodes of fish-eating birds. Uchenye Zapiski Gor’kovskogo Gosudarstvennogo Pedagogicheskogo Instituta, 19, 43–52. (In Russian). [Google Scholar] ) based on morphological, biological and molecular (mitochondrial cox1 gene fragments) data. The main morphological differences between species are the length of the distance between the anterior end of the body and the anterior extremity of the vitellarium as a ratio to the forebody length, and the shape of the anterior vitelline follicles. We also aimed to test the monophyly of the Аpophallinae through nuclear-ribosomal molecular markers 18S + 28S rDNA. Tree topology showed Apophallus zalophi (Price, 1932 Price, E. W. (1932). The trematode parasites of marine mammals. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 81, 1–68. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00963801.81-2936.1 [Crossref] , [Google Scholar] ) clustered closer to Liliatrema Gubanov, 1953 than to the other Apophallus spp. As a result, we resurrect the genus Pricetrema Ciurea, 1933 Ciurea, J. (1933). Les vers parasites de l’homme, des mammiferes et des oiseaux provenant des poissons du Danube et de la Mer Noire. Archives Roumaines de Pathologie Expérimentale et de Microbiologie, 6, 5–134. (In French). [Google Scholar] that earlier was proposed for A. zalophi and abolish the Liliatrematinae Gubanov, 1953 with removal of Liliatrema into the Apophallinae. Thus, according to the updated concept, the Apophallinae contains three genera, Apophallus Lühe, 1909, Liliatrema and Pricetrema, two of which (Apophallus, Pricetrema) have the ventrogenital sac with two gonotyls and one (Liliatrema) has a genital sac without gonotyls.

Cestodes of the genus Triaenophorus Rudolphi, 1793 are widely distributed parasites of Esocidae, Percidae, Salmonidae, Thimallidae, Cobitidae, Osmeridae, Cyprinidae, Cottiidae, Lotidae, and several others in the Holarctic. The taxonomic arrangements of different authors, based on morphological and ecological–biogeographic characters, suggest the presence of two to five species of this genus in Eurasia. The genetic variation of Eurasian Triaenophorus spp. was evaluated using DNA barcoding ( cox1 and 28S gene sequences). This confirmed the validity of five Triaenophorus species: T. amurensis, T. crassus, T. meridionalis, T. nodulosus, and T. orientalis. We demonstrated systematic concordance between traditional meristic criteria and DNA sequence data. Phylogenetic reconstructions support the monophyletic origin of the group of species with a long basal plate of the scolex hook ( T. crassus, T. meridionalis, and T. orientalis). Triaenophorus crassus is represented by two haplogroups, associated with Siberia and northwestern Russia. Our results show differences between T. nodulosus, T. amurensis, and T. crassus in terms of the haplotype diversity level, which are probably related to the Quaternary history of the development of their ranges, as well as the degree of euryxeny to the second intermediate host.

The Opisthorchiidae are a large trematode group with a complex taxonomic structure at the subfamily level. Phylogenetic assessment of the Metorchiinae, the Opisthorchiinae and the Pseudamphistominae was carried out using 28S rDNA, concatenated 18S + 28S rDNA, ITS1 and ITS2 rDNA, and COI mt DNA sequences data set. Phylogenetic analyses showed that Metorchis (Metorchiinae), Pseudamphistomum (Pseudamphistominae), Opisthorchis and Clonorchis (Opisthorchiinae) were grouped in a same clade and that Amphimerus (Opisthorchiinae) has a basal position to all these genera. Thus, the Opisthorchiinae can only be resolved as a monophyletic taxon in combination with metorchiine and pseudamphistomine trematodes. The group comprising opisthorchiines, metorchiines and pseudamphistomines clustered with apophallines and liliatrematines. However, the Apophallinae did not appear as a monophyletic taxon. As a result, two subfamilies of traditional opisthorchiids, the Metorchiinae and the Pseudamphistominae, were not recognized as valid. In addition, we demonstrated the existence of three monophyletic groups of heterophyid trematodes, which is important for the future revision of this group.

Sets of small ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) and large ribosomal DNA (LSU rDNA) sequences were obtained for Philometroides moraveci Vismanis & Yunchis, 1994, Philometra kotlani (Molnar, 1969), Philometra rischta Skrjabin, 1923, Philometra cf. obturans (Prenant, 1886) (Philometridae), Sinoichthyonema amuri (Garkavi, 1972), Agrachanus scardinii (Molnar, 1966), Kalmanmolnaria intestinalis (Dogiel & Bychowsky, 1934) and Skrjabillanus tincae Shigin & Shigina, 1958 (Skrjabillanidae). Phylogenetic analysis of SSU rDNA data shows that dracunculoid nematodes are divided into two well-supported clades designated as Clade I and Clade II, respectively. Clade I includes the type species of the genus Philonema Kuitunen-Ekbaum, 1933, some species from the family Daniconematidae Moravec & Koie, 1987 and two subfamilies of skrjabillanids, Skrjabillaninae Shigin & Shigina, 1958 and Esocineminae Moravec, 2006. Clade II unites species from the families Dracunculidae Stiles, 1907, Micropleuridae Baylis & Daubney, 1926 and Philometridae Baylis & Daubney, 1926. Within the Philometridae, there are several well-supported groups of species, one of which unites freshwater Philometra spp. from the Palearctic cyprinids, identified as P. kotlani, P rischta, P. ovata (Zeder, 1803) and P. cyprinirutili (Creplin, 1825). However, the phylogenetic relationships of most philometrids are unresolved. An analysis of partial SSU and LSU rDNA sequences indicates that there is no direct phylogenetic relationship between Agrachanus Tikhomirova, 1971 (type species Skrjabillanus scardinii Molnar, 1966) and Skrjabillanus Shigin & Shigina, 1958 (type species Sk. tincae), which means that the genus Agrachanus can be resurrected. Our study confirms that Philonematinae Ivashkin, Sobolev & Khromova, 1971 should be elevated to the family rank. We formally establish the family Philonematidae Ivashkin, Sobolev & Khromova, 1971 stat. nov. We also suggest combining the superfamilies Dracunculoidea Stiles, 1907 and Camallanoidea Railliet & Henry, 1915 into the infraorder Camallanomorpha Roberts, Janovy & Nadler, 2013.

Two species of microphalloid trematodes, Parabascus oppositus and Lecithodendrium сf. skrjabini, were found in the Vesper bat, Pipistrellus kuhlii, caught in the Astrakhan Oblast’, Lower Volga region, Russia. A morphological revision of a paratype of P. oppositus, as well as a study of the specimens collected during this survey indicate this species to be devoid of a cirrus-sac. Instead, the species has a convoluted seminal vesicle, a tubular pars prostatica surrounded by an extensive field of prostatic cells, and a short ejaculatory duct. These structures lie freely in the parenchyma. The genital pore is submedian and is situated at the level of the ventral sucker. The body length of Lecithodendrium cf. skjabini differs from that of L. skjabini sensu stricto. A phylogenetic analysis using 28S rDNA unites P. oppositus together with G. amphoraeformis and Gyrabascus sp. in the Gyrabascus spp. clade (Pleurogenidae). On this basis, P. oppositus has been included into the genus Gyrabascus, thus correcting its previous diagnosis. Lecithodendrium cf. skjabini is clustered with other members of the genus Lecithodendrium. The monophyly of the Lecithoodendriidae is confirmed. Our results support the integration of this family together with Microphallidae, Phaneropsolidae, and Stomylotrematidae into a large clade. In the present study, we show the paraphyly of the family Pleurogenidae and the monophyly of the Pleurogenidae + Collyriclidae group.

The purpose of the research is to systematize the long-term data on study of nematode fauna of Corvidae family birds of Volga river delta. Materials and methods. Data of helminthological researches carried out during the period from 1936 to 2017 in different landscape zones of Volga river delta are included into the project. The study of the species composition of the nematode fauna was carried out based on analysis of own and literature data received during helminthological autopsy of the Corvidae family birds belonging to 3 species: hooded crow (Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758), rook (Corvus frugilegus Linnaeus, 1758), magpie (Picapica Linnaeus, 1758). Traditional methods were used during collection and handling of helminthological material (Skryabin, 1928; Dubinina, 1955). Nematodes have been fixed by the mixture made from equal parts of 70% alcohol, lactic acid and 50% glycerol, 4% formalin solution or in Barbagallo liquid. Nematodes have been identified by famous indicators. Results and discussion. 480 specimen of Corvidae family birds, 170 specimen of which had been infested by nematode worms, were investigated in order to study helminthofauna at Volga river delta from 1936 to nowadays. Having summarized the literature data with the results from own study of Corvidae family parasitophauna we have made a taxonomical list including 17 species of nematodes. During the period from 1976 to 2017 we have been discovering 3 species of nematodes for the first time: Microtetrameres helix (Cram, 1927) - in a rook, Oxyspirura sygmoidea (Molin, 1860) - in a rook, a magpie and a hooded crow, Pseudaprocta decorata (Li, 1933) - in a magpie. 2 species of nematodes have been registered in Corvidae family as in new hosts in the studied region too. Baruscapillaria corvorum (Rudolphi, 1819) - in a hooded crow, a magpie and Diplotriaena tricuspis (Fedtschenko, 1874) - in a hooded crow.