Unexpected finding of the invasive Baikalian amphipod Gmelinoides fasciatus

A specimen of the Baikalian micruropodid amphipod Gmelinoides fasciatus was recently found in a spring brook in the Shugnansky District, Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province of Tajikistan. This occurrence represents the first record confirmed with mt-cox1 sequence data for this species from the Pamir Mountains. Reliable information on the introduction of Gm. fasciatus and the pattern of its distribution in the region is not yet available, but we hypothesise that the species was introduced intentionally to increase the fish productivity of Yashilkul Lake in 1973−1974. This finding of probably an isolated population shifts the southernmost limit of the species range approximately 1400 km from the Bukhtarminskoye reservoir, Eastern Kazakhstan. A general overview of the morphology, ecology, distribution and invasive history of the species is provided

Life Cycle of Nitzschia palea (Kutzing) W. Smith (Bacillariophyta)

The diatom Nitzschia palea is a widespread eurybiontic alga that inhabits the benthos of freshwater ponds and watercourses, soils and caves. This species has a potential for biotechnological applications; therefore, knowledge on its biology is important. Although the species has been studied quite extensively, comprehensive information on its life cycle properties, including cardinal points, is still lacking. In this contribution, based on our own observations and literature data, we supplement and summarize the available information on the species' life cycle, including data on morphology, morphometry, teratological structures of valves and cardinal points. We also revealed a uniparental inheritance of the mitochondrial gene cox1 in N. palea. The data obtained will be important for phylogeography studies of the species, as well as provide fundamental basis for the technology of long-term maintenance of N. palea in culture