1. ECOLOGICAL STUDIES OF EURASIAN MINNOW FOR EVALUATION OF THE CONDITION OF GLACIAL LAKE BEZBOG IN PIRIN MOUNTAIN, BULGARIA.
- Author
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Chunchukova, Mariya and Kirin, Diana
- Subjects
GLACIAL lakes ,MINNOWS ,FISH communities ,FOOD chains ,NATIONAL parks & reserves - Abstract
The glacial lake Bezbog fall within the boundaries of Pirin National Park and Pirin Protected Area BG0000209. The Park is of particular importance for the protection of the glacial lakes and the upper reaches of the rivers as typical habitats for the ichthyofauna. The fish species integrate the effects of stressors manifested at lower trophic levels, making them an extremely important biological element in understanding the impacts of large-scale environmental changes. The analysis of the parasite populations and communities of fish reflects their conditions and relationships with other organisms in the investigated lake ecosystem. During the ecological study of 30 specimens of Eurasian minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus (Linnaeus, 1758)) by applying standard techniques for parasites, an infestation with the nematode species Salmonema ephemeridarum ((Linstow, 1872) Moravec, Santos & Brasil-Sato, 2008), the larva was found. This is the first study of the helminth fauna of Eurasian minnow from Bezbog Lake. This study aims to present basic ecological characteristics of populations and communities of Eurasian minnow and the bioindicator significance of the established parasite species for ecological evaluation of the state of the studied freshwater ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2020