First data on the Hirudinea fauna of lotic ecosystems of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area (Russia)

By

Fedorova, Lyudmila
Kaygorodova, Irina A.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1082

Pages

73--85

Subjects

Hirudinea , new records , north of Western Siberia rivers , species distribution , Species diversity

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1082.71859

 

Abstract

Hirudinea, a small and ecologically important group of aquatic organisms, is poorly studied in northern Eurasia. In this study, we demyth the idea of the faunistic poverty of this region and present the first findings of rheophilic leeches from the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, Russia. Investigation of 25 rivers (Severnaya Sosva, Ob, Konda-Irtysh, and Bolshoi Yugan river basins) resulted in finding 10 leech species with parasitic and non-parasitic life strategies. These species belong to two orders (Rhynchobdellida and Arhynchobdellida), three families (Glossiphoniidae, Piscicolidae, and Erpobdellidae) and six genera (Alboglossiphonia, Glossiphonia, Helobdella, Hemiclepsis, Piscicola, and Erpobdella). Five species, A. hyalina, G. verrucata, E. monostriata, E. vilnensis, and potentially new morphological species of piscine leeches Piscicola sp., have been discovered for the first time in Western Siberia. Data on species diversity of rheophilic leeches include the exact systematic position for all leech taxa. Each species from the list is supplemented with information about its geographical distribution.