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Issue: Vol. 5866 No. 2: 11 Aug. 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-08-11
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5866.2.9
Page range: 343-356
Abstract views: 295
PDF downloaded: 10

New species of the genus Neoskrjabinolepis Spassky, 1947 (Cestoda: Cyclophyllidea: Hymenolepididae) from shrews of the Caucasus

Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals; Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Novosibirsk; Russia.
Federal Research Center the Southern Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Rostov–on–Don; Russia.
Platyhelminthes cestode morphology and genetic diversity Eulipotyphla Soricidae mitochondrial gene nad1

Abstract

The genus Neoskrjabinolepis Spassky, 1947—one of the most species-rich genera of cestodes from shrews in the Palaearctic—currently includes 17 species. A revision of collection specimens of cestodes from shrews of the Central Caucasus has been carried out, and newly-collected helminthological specimens from shrews from various regions of the Caucasus (the Republics of Adygea, Karachay–Cherkessia, Armenia, Dagestan, North Ossetia) have been studied. Phylogenetic analysis based on partial sequences of the mitochondrial gene nad1 revealed significant genetic diversity within the specimens identified as N. schaldybini and N. merkushevae, leading to their recognition as species complexes. Based on a complex of morphological and molecular genetic data, two new endemic species of Neoskrjabinolepis are described: N. armenica sp. nov. from Sorex volnuchini and N. caucasica sp. nov. from S. raddei. The species list of cestodes from shrews of the Caucasus includes four species of the genus: N. schaldybini, N. caucasica sp. nov., N. armenica sp. nov., and Neoskrjabinolepis sp. Two species, N. singularis and N. merkushevae, are excluded from the species list based on re-identification. N. armenica occurs throughout the Caucasus, N. caucasica has been recorded only in shrews of the Western Caucasus, and Neoskrjabinolepis sp. occurs in shrews of the Central Caucasus.

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How to Cite

Kornienko, S.A. & Stakheev, V.V. (2026) New species of the genus Neoskrjabinolepis Spassky, 1947 (Cestoda: Cyclophyllidea: Hymenolepididae) from shrews of the Caucasus. Zootaxa, 5866 (2), 343–356. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5866.2.9