Scientific publications

The present study was aimed to examine the specific features of the helminth fauna in insular populations of the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) in the north of the species range. The material was collected in and nearby the Kizhi Archipelago (Lake Onega, 62°1R N35°12R E) during August 1997, 2005—2007, 2012 and 2013. Small mammals were trapped on 23 islands (varying from 2 to 15,000 ha) and on the mainland. Helminthological methods were applied to examine 301 specimens of M. glareolus. Fourteen helminth species were found: trematodes — Skrjabinoplagiorchis vigisi; cestodes — Paranoplocephala omphalodes, P. gracilis, Catenotaenia henttoneni, Taenia mustelae, Cladotaenia globifera, Spirometra erinacei; nematodes—Trichocephalus muris, Aonchotheca murissylvatici, Hepaticola hepatica, Heligmosomum mixtum, Heligmosomoides glareoli, Longistriata minuta, Syphacia petrusewiczi. The parasites S. vigisi, S. erinaci, H. hepatica and T. muris were identified in the bank vole in Karelia for the first time. Significant differences were detected between the helminth faunas of local insular populations of the bank vole. A distinctive feature of all small islands was that samples from them lacked the widespread parasitic nematode Heligmosomum mixtum. The studies have confirmed the general trends observed in the parasite fauna of most isolated populations of small mammals: a poorer species diversity and high infestation rates with certain species of parasites. The Kizhi Archipelago is characterized by the specific high abundance of regionally rare parasite species (H. hepatica, A. murissylvatici), and by the absence of common parasites (H. mixtum, H. glareoli).