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Basing on the data on two species of eiders (Somateria spectabilis and S. fischeri) from the Chaun lowland (north-east of Chukotka) and literature data (Schiller, 1955) on morphology of cestodes from the Steller's eider Polysticta stelleri from Point Barrow (Alaska), a rare eiders' parasite Hymenolepis sibirica (Linstow, 1905) is suggested to be included into genus Tschertkovilepis Spassky et Spasskaya, 1954. Species description supplemented with material from the new host — spectacled eider (S. fischeri). Considering findings of mature cestodes at the eider males during mating season, the infestation zone of eider is supposed to be in their wintering places (location) and on the spring migration paths, i. e. in marine biotopes.

Revision of the current state of the cestode fauna the Black Sea elasmobranchs — stingrays Dasyatis pastinaca (L.) and Raja clavata L. and shark Squalus acanthias L. revealed a low level of scrutiny: many species names cestodes referred to the Black Sea elasmobranchs are not currently valid; some species are summarized in the synonymous without studying of comparative morphology; transfer individual species cestodes in the other genera has not been confirmed by morphological studies; synonymy of certain species complicated and does not meet the acknowledged synonyms valid species; number of different species described under one name in the contradict each other reservoir; discovery of other species in the Black Sea, due to the absence in this reservoir of their specific final hosts, are questionable. Fauna of the cestodes from the rays R. clavata, D. pastinaca and shark S. acanthias in the Mediterranean and Black seas are compared. Equal numbers of cestoda species, namely — 29, are revealed in three investigated species of fish in both seas, and 12 of them are common. Endemism of the cestode fauna from the Black Sea elasmobranchs is about 30%.

Nematode fauna of two duck species, the Eurasian wigeon, Anas penelope Linnaeus, 1758, and the common teal A. crecca Linnaeus, 1758, breeding at Lake Ladoga (Republic of Karelia, Russia) was studied. The examined birds hosted 9 nematode species: 6 were revealed in the wigeon, and 7, in the teal. Life cycles of these species are either direct or involve intermediate hosts. The teal's species composition of nematodes differed depending on whether the bird was taken in autumn or spring. The species Poroccaecum crassum Deslongchamps, 1824 was identified in the ducks of Karelia for the first time. Nematodes were carried over from the birds' wintering grounds and were not found in the birds surveyed in Karelia in autumn. Most likely the species cannot continue their development in Karelia because their intermediate hosts are absent in the local fauna.

Herring gulls (Larus argentatus) from the Barents Sea (adult, nestling) have been studied. The intensity of invasion by Wardium cirrosa (Cestoda: Aploparaksidae) in adults and nestling varied within 2—119 (27.0±16.1) and 6—89 (40.0±14.5) respectively. W. cirrosa were localized in the distal department of the intestine of adult gulls and in the medial and distal regions of the intestine of nestlings. Activity of digestive enzymes (glycosidases and proteases) of mucosal in proximal, median, and distal regions of the intestine of uninfected and infected herring gulls has been detected. Activities of digestive enzymes in sites of localization of W. cirrosa in infested gulls changes in comparison with similar parameters in uninfected birds. Activities of glycosidases and proteases in the strobile and on the surface of the integument of W. cirrosa were measured. The impact of factors determining the location of the cestodes W. cirrosa in gastrointestinal tract of the herring gull was analyzed.

Two new species of parasitic copepods, Pseudobrychiopontius brevicaudus gen. et sp. n. (Brychiopontiidae) and Honshia lobata gen. et sp. n. (Nanaspididae) are described. The parasites were found in the intestine of holothurians Pannychia moseleyi Theel, 1882 and in the coelome of holothurians Myriotrochus mitsukurii Ohshima, 1915, respectively. Both species holothurians were collected off the Pacific coast of Honshu at a depth of 1240— 1480 m. Pseudobrychiopontius gen. n. differs from the closely related monotypic genera Brychiopontius Humes, 1974 and Neobrychiopontius Mahatma, Arbizu and Ivanenko, 2010 according to the following features: the 3-segmented urosome in female and 4-segmented urosome in male, the short caudal ramus, the 19-segmented antennule in female and 16-segmented antennule in male, the terminal arms antenna and maxilliped, the 2-segmented endopod on leg 4, the reduced number of setae and spines on legs 1—4, the unarmed of leg 6 in female and the size and shape of the spine on the first exopodal segment of leg 1. Honshia gen. n. differs from the other genera of Nanaspididae due to the indistinctly 5-segmented cephalothoracic trunk and the absence of legs 3 and 4.

The Russian Far East is characterized by high biological diversity and a large number of mammals, including many rare species such as the Amur tiger Panthera tigris altaica Temminck, 1844, the Far Eastern leopard P. pardus orientalis (Schlegel, 1857), the brown bear Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758, and the Asiatic black bear U. thibetanus G. Cuvier, 1823. Population declines of these species are largely due to habitat loss, poaching and reduction of prey species/forage base. However, there is also the risk of population decrease and even extinction due to infectious diseases, which have not been adequately studied in the region. This research was performed to identify tick-borne pathogens in the Ixodidae ticks and large mammals in the Russian Far East and their potential impact on wildlife populations. For this purpose, we examined adult free-ranging and feeding ticks collected from vegetation and from mammals. Ticks (n = 264) were collected from 34 animals, including Amur tigers, lynxes Lynx lynx (Linnaeus, 1758), brown bears, Asiatic black bears, foxes Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758), raccoon dogs Nyctereutes procyoides (Gray, 1834), domestic dog Canis familiaris Linnaeus, 1758, red deer Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758 and wild boars Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758. Additional ticks (n = 197) were collected from five ground drags in various locations throughout the Russian Far East during the peak tick season (May and June). DNA was extracted by alkaline digestion and two PCR assays were carried out. The first assay looked for the presence of rickettsia-like organisms and was performed on all samples. The second assay looked for the presence of apicomplexan organisms and was performed only on ticks collected from animals. DNA of Rickettsia-like organisms were detected in 46.6% of the feeding ticks collected from animals and 27.4% of the ticks collected from ground drags. DNA of Apicomplexan organisms were detected in 34.1% of the feeding ticks collected from animals. The nucleotide base sequences of five amplicons obtained from rickettsia-like organisms and nine amplicons obtained from apicomplexan organisms were determined. Comparative sequence analysis revealed that the rickettsia-like organisms were likely members of the taxa Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis Kawahara et al., 2004, Anaplasma phagocytophilum (Foggie 1949) Dumler et al., 2001, and Ehrlichia muris Wen et al., 1995. The apicomplexan samples could be delineated into five like strains of Hepatozoon ursi Kubo et al., 2008 (all infecting ticks collected off bears), two likely strains of H. felis (Patton, 1908) (both infecting ticks collected off felids), one close relative of a likely novel Theileria species (currently referred to as Iwate 141), and one close relative of Theileria sinensis Bai et al., 2002. These results indicate the presence of tick-borne pathogens in tick and carnivore populations in the Russian Far East and should be used as a basis for further research to quantify the epidemiologies of infections caused by these potential pathogens.

The data on a new finding of Ixodes frontalis (Panzer, 1798) in the North Caucasus are given. The ticks were found in 2015 at two different sites in the western part of Stavropol Territory. In both cases, the great tit was the host. One larva was collected from tit in autumn, indicating the presence of a local breeding population of ticks. All previous findings of the species in the region were made in spring.

Based on comparative analysis of morphological characters of adults Cryptocotyle ransomii Isaitshikow, 1924 and C. jejuna (Nicoll, 1907) Ransom, 1920 we came to conclusion about their species identity. Because C. jejuna was described earlier C. ransomii should be synonymized with it.