Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2025 number 3

Helminth fauna of three shrew species of the genus Sorex (Sorex araneus, S. caecutiens, S. minutus) of the Kola Peninsula was studied. Based on our own and analyzed literature data, a complete taxonomic list was compiled, which consists of 21 helminth species: 14 cestodes species of the families Dilepididae, Hymenolepididae and Mesocestoididae, four nematodes species of the families Strongyloididae and Heligmosomidae, three trematodes species of the families Omphalometridae and Brachylaemidae. The greatest diversity of worms in S. araneus was found: ten cestodes species, four nematodes species and three trematodes species. In S. caecutiens seven cestodes species, three nematodes species and three trematodes species were recorded. Eight cestodes species, three nematodes species and three trematodes species were found in the S. minutus. About 80 % of the studied shrews were infected with helminths. A comparative analysis of the helminth fauna of shrews in Eastern Fennoscandia (the Kola Peninsula, Finland and Karelia) was carried out in the direction from the south to the north of the region, in the latitudinal range (59-61°N, 62-65°N, 66-69°N). A high similarity between the quantitative and qualitative composition of the helminth fauna of shrews in the territory of Eastern Fennoscandia (Finland, Karelia, the Kola Peninsula) in the latitude range of 62-69°N (Cj=0.85) was found, which may be due to climatic conditions favorable for the completion of the life cycle of helminths.