Abstract
Hirudinea is a small and ecologically important group of aquatic organisms. However, up to date, the leech fauna of Kazakhstan is poorly studied. The presence of large under-collected areas, such as the Upper Irtysh basin, makes biodiversity studies concerning these invertebrates from Kazakhstan relevant. In this paper, the latest information on species diversity of the freshwater hirudofauna of the Upper Irtysh cascade of water reservoirs, the Kazakhstan part of Irtysh River, is presented. It includes 10 free-living and parasitic species, of which 7 and 9 inhabit the Shulbinsk and the Bukhtarma reservoirs, respectively. These species belong to 2 orders, 3 families and 6 genera. The faunal list highlights four potentially new morphological species (Alboglossiphonia sp., Erpobdella sp., Piscicola sp. 1 and Piscicola sp. 2). Besides them, another three species Erpobdella vilnensis, Helobdella stagnalis and Theromyzon tessulatum recorded for the first time in the area. The exact systematic position is stated for all leech taxa. Each species from the list accompanied with information on taxonomic synonymy, data on its geographic distribution, and brief summary of morphological and ecological characteristics.
Highlights
The Irtysh River with a catchment area of more than 300 000 km2 is the main water artery of the Eastern Kazakhstan, which meets the regional requirements of water resources
The hydrological level of the river is controlled by the Upper Irtysh water cascade consisting of Bukhtarma, Shulbinsk and Ust-Kamenogorsk storage reservoirs
The Bukhtarma reservoir is the largest of them; it serves as the main regulator of the cascade as a whole
Summary
The Irtysh River with a catchment area of more than 300 000 km is the main water artery of the Eastern Kazakhstan, which meets the regional requirements of water resources. The hydrological level of the river is controlled by the Upper Irtysh water cascade consisting of Bukhtarma, Shulbinsk and Ust-Kamenogorsk storage reservoirs. Using these reservoirs, a multi-year, seasonal and weekly regulation of the river flow is consistently implemented (Beysembaeva and Dubrovskaya 2014, Vinokurov et al 2010). The UstKamenogorsk reservoir is located in the mountain valley of canyon type; it regulates weekly and daily river flow. This reservoir is characterized by significant water exchange, cold water and absence of the littoral zone. Instability of the hydrological level in the Irtysh cascade reservoirs, industrial impacts, and acclimatization activities conducted earlier necessitate the studying of natural biodiversity and its preserving
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
