Results and perspectives of helminthological studies of land vertebrate animals of Samarskaya Luka

The results of complex helminthological studies of vertebrate animals (amphibians, reptiles, birds, small mammals) of Samarskaya Luka conducted in 2000-2017 are presented. 202 species of helminths were recorded in the examined animals of 82 species. Twenty-two species of parasites were first noted for the fauna of Russia, 29 for vertebrates of the Volga Basin. New hosts are indicated for 27 species of helminths. The dependence of the composition of parasites of vertebrates on the size-age, sex, phenotypic structure of the host population, as well as on the season of the year and in successive years, was revealed. 14 found helminth species have an important epizootological and epidemiological significance as causative agents of dangerous helminthoses for humans, wild and domestic animals. The population biology of model species of trematodes and nematodes of amphibians and bats has been studied. New data has been obtained on the formation of the size, age, and sex structure of helminth hemipopulations, their fecundity. The life cycle of Cosmocerca ornata, an amphibian parasite, was studied for the first time. The prospects of further parasitological studies in the region are considered.