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Hyperboreomyzon polaris Bolotov, Eliseeva, Klass & Kondakov, 2022 (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae) is an enigmatic freshwater leech that was recently described based on three specimens from two remote regions of the Eurasian Arctic, that is, the Kolguev Island and Putorana Plateau, Russia. Later on, misidentified historical samples of this species were discovered in the Hirudinea collection of Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg, Russia). These samples were collected by Pavel G. Ignatov, a prominent Russian geographer and traveler, from a remote high-altitude area of the Altai Mountains (South Siberia) in 1901. To collect new samples from this population, we organized a field expedition to the same area (Lake Dzhulukul) in 2023. Molecular genetic data (COI and 18S rRNA) obtained from newly collected specimens revealed that they belong to H. polaris. Hence, this leech could be considered an Arctic-alpine species, the disjunctive range of which covers Arctic areas of Eurasia and Central Asian (South Siberian) mountains. We describe and illustrate living individuals of H. polaris for the first time, update its morphological diagnosis, present a life cycle reconstruction based on the frequency of four size classes in available samples. It is shown that this species prefers small lentic water bodies such as small lakes and lakelets. The crop content of a well-fed specimen from Altai contains DNA of the northern pintail Anas acuta Linnaeus (Aves: Anatidae), indicating that H. polaris feeds on blood of waterfowl. Our results indicate that Hyperboreomyzon may be considered a species adapted to cold high-latitude areas and mountain refugia., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

The family Glossiphoniidae is a diverse and widespread clade of freshwater leeches, playing a significant role in functioning of aquatic ecosystems. The taxonomy and biogeography of leeches from temperate, subtropical, and tropical regions attracted much attention of zoologists, while their taxonomic richness and distribution in the Arctic are poorly understood. Here, we present an overview of the Eurasian Arctic Glossiphoniidae based on the most comprehensive occurrence and DNA sequence datasets sampled to date. This fauna contains 14 species, belonging to five genera and three subfamilies. One genus and five species are new to science and described here. The world's northernmost occurrences of glossiphoniids are situated on the Taymyr Peninsula at 72° N, although further records at higher latitudes are expected. Most Arctic leeches are characterized by broad ranges crossing several climatic zones (e.g., Glossiphonia balcanica and G. nebulosa), although the distribution of two new species may be confined to the high-latitude areas. The Taymyr Peninsula with the nearby Putorana Plateau represents the most species-rich area (totally 9 species), while the European Arctic, Iceland, Kolyma Highland, and Chukotka Peninsula house depleted faunas (2-4 species per subregion). Finally, we show that the high-latitude melanism is a common phenomenon in glossiphoniid leeches., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The bumble bee fauna of the Russian Arctic is rather poorly known. Kolguev Island, a remote insular territory in the Barents Sea, is one of the deficiently studied areas. In this study, material on Kolguev's bumble bees is re-examined, phylogeographic data analysed, putative scenarios explaining the origin of the bumble bee fauna on the island discussed, and the biology and phenology of these insular populations described. Five bumble bee species, i.e., Bombusflavidus , B.lapponicus , B.jonellus , B.pyrrhopygus , and B.balteatus , were recorded on this island. All of these species are widespread throughout the Eurasian Arctic. Bumble bee populations on Kolguev Island are characterised by a low level of molecular divergence from mainland populations. Based on paleogeographic reconstructions and phylogeographic patterns, it is hypothesised that the bumble bees appeared on this island in the Early Holocene. The lack of rodents (lemmings and voles) sharply decreases the number of available nesting places for bumble bees on Kolguev Island., (Grigory S. Potapov, Yulia S. Kolosova, Alexander V. Kondakov, Alena A. Tomilova, Boris Yu. Filippov, Natalia A. Zubrii, Vitaly M. Spitsyn, Elizaveta A. Spitsyna, Alisa A. Zheludkova, Mikhail Yu. Gofarov, Galina V. Bovykina, Ivan N. Bolotov.)

The high-elevation Tibetan Plateau (western China) is inhabited by a unique, though not particularly species-rich, community of organisms. We explored the species content and evolutionary history of the Tibetan Plateau endemic freshwater snail genus Tibetoradix. Phylogenetic relationships within the genus were reconstructed based on available sequence data. We used a single-rate Poisson Tree Processes approach for species delimitation and compared putative species-level clades with already described taxa. We found that the genus consists of at least 6 species, of which we described 4 as new to science. Shell and soft body morphology was examined and the radula in Tibetoradix was described for the first time. Based on our findings, the diversification of the genus did not result in a prominent morphological differentiation and a number of species can be regarded as morphologically cryptic. Single species found in different drainage areas indicate relatively good passive dispersal abilities of the snails. The allopatric distribution of the species could result from competitive exclusion between them. The absence of Tibetoradix spp. outside the Tibetan Plateau could be explained by a scenario of an "evolutionary trap", where adaptations to high elevation conditions prevented the taxa from a successful colonization of lower elevations., (© 2021 International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Global environmental changes may cause dramatic insect declines but over century-long time series of certain species' records are rarely available for scientific research. The Menetries' Tiger Moth (Arctia menetriesii) appears to be the most enigmatic example among boreal insects. Although it occurs throughout the entire Eurasian taiga biome, it is so rare that less than 100 specimens were recorded since its original description in 1846. Here, we present the database, which contains nearly all available information on the species' records collected from 1840s to 2020. The data on A. menetriesii records (N = 78) through geographic regions, environments, and different timeframes are compiled and unified. The database may serve as the basis for a wide array of future research such as the distribution modeling and predictions of range shifts under climate changes. It represents a unique example of a more than century-long dataset of distributional, ecological, and phenological data designed for an exceptionally rare but widespread boreal insect, which primarily occurs in hard-to-reach, uninhabited areas of Eurasia., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Freshwater mussels cannot spread through oceanic barriers and represent a suitable model to test the continental drift patterns. Here, we reconstruct the diversification of Oriental freshwater mussels (Unionidae) and revise their taxonomy. We show that the Indian Subcontinent harbors a rather taxonomically poor fauna, containing 25 freshwater mussel species from one subfamily (Parreysiinae). This subfamily most likely originated in East Gondwana in the Jurassic and its representatives arrived to Asia on two Gondwanan fragments (Indian Plate and Burma Terrane). We propose that the Burma Terrane was connected with the Indian Plate through the Greater India up to the terminal Cretaceous. Later on, during the entire Paleogene epoch, these blocks have served as isolated evolutionary hotspots for freshwater mussels. The Burma Terrane collided with mainland Asia in the Late Eocene, leading to the origin of the Mekong's Indochinellini radiation. Our findings indicate that the Burma Terrane had played a major role as a Gondwanan "biotic ferry" alongside with the Indian Plate., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Discoveries of new Hemiclepsis species (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae) in East and Southeast Asia were expected. A peculiar freshwater leech was found on the body surface of Asian Swamp Eel Monopterus albus (Synbranchiformes: Synbranchidae) in Jingzhou, Hubei Province, China. Here, we describe this leech species as Hemiclepsis yangtzenensis sp. nov. It could be distinguished from other congeners based on a combination of morphological features such as very small size, translucent body with dense green reticulate markings throughout dorsum, very large posterior sucker with a characteristic reticulate pattern, and two pairs of well-developed drop-like eyespots. It also represents a phylogenetic lineage that is distant from other members of the genus based on the COI and 18S rRNA sequences. This leech species seems to be a specialized fish parasite that could negatively affect farming and wild stocks of Asian Swamp Eel in China., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The freshwater leech family Salifidae Johansson has a Paleotropical range, with a hotspot of species richness in the Oriental Region, and a few species endemic to Africa, Madagascar, and Reunion. Barbronia gwalagwalensis Westergren Siddall, 2004 was thought to be a characteristic example of the latter group being a lineage endemic to South Africa. However, we found that this species also occurs in Asia (Myanmar and Korea). Our time-calibrated phylogeny based on the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene reveals that the split between the African and Asian populations of this species occurred in the mid-Pleistocene, approximately 1.3 Ma ago (95% HPD 0.7-2.1 Ma). The statistical biogeographic modeling indicates that a B. gwalagwalensis population in South Africa most likely originated due a long-distance dispersal event with a subsequent vicariance (probability = 88.9%). A Late Quaternary range extension towards South Africa is known to occur in some other freshwater taxa (e.g. the freshwater mussel Unio caffer Krauss species group), which agrees with our hypothesis on the ancient origin of the South African B. gwalagwalensis population. Conversely, we can assume that the African population of this species was recently introduced from Asia. If so, the high levels of genetic divergence between African and Asian populations could be a part of a more general phylogeographic pattern historically originated within the Asian subcontinent due to the isolation by orographic or marine barriers. These two alternative hypotheses need further research efforts, i.e. sampling and sequencing of other Barbronia taxa, the ranges of which are situated between South Africa and Southeast Asia, as well as of topotypes of B. weberi (Blanchard, 1897) from Indonesia. Finally, our results highlight that the salifid genus Barbronia Johansson originated in the Oriental Region and that these leeches share both recently and historically high potential for long-distance dispersal events.

The Mekong and Chao Phraya rivers harbor a species-rich freshwater mussel assemblage containing a large radiation of the Pseudodontini species. Members of the genera Bineurus Simpson 1900 and Thaiconcha Bolotov et al., 2020 primarily inhabit small and medium-sized tributaries of these rivers. Here, we present an integrative taxonomic review of these genus-level clades. We show that Bineurus contains four species: B. mouhotii (Lea, 1863), B. exilis (Morelet, 1866) stat. rev., B. anodontinum (Rochebrune, 1882) stat. rev., and B. loeiensis sp. nov. In its turn, Thaiconcha comprises three species: T. callifera (Martens, 1860), T. munelliptica sp. nov., and T. thaiensis sp. nov. Two species, Pseudodon ovalis Morlet, 1889 and P. thomsoni Morlet, 1884, are considered here as questionable taxa. These findings further highlight that Southeast Asia represents a significant evolutionary hotspot of freshwater mussels, which requires further international collaborative research and conservation efforts.

Parasites and symbionts of freshwater mussels are poorly understood, although a diverse assemblage of mussel-associated leeches (Glossiphoniidae) was recently described. Here, we report on the discovery of a fish leech (Piscicolidae) in the mantle cavity of the freshwater mussel Cristaria plicata (Unionidae) in the Russian Far East. It is the first member of this leech family being associated with freshwater molluscs. This leech does not match any known genus and species both morphologically and genetically, and is described here as Alexandrobdella makhrovi gen. & sp. nov. It uses mussels as shelter (and probably as a secondary host), while the Amur catfish Silurus asotus (Siluridae) seems to be the primary host. These novel findings indicate that mussel-associated leech assemblage contains at least one piscicolid species. Our fossil-calibrated phylogeny suggests that the crown group of Piscicolidae was originated in the Early Cretaceous. This primarily marine family shares at least five independent colonization events into freshwater environments.

While a growing body of modern phylogenetic research reveals that the Western Indochina represents a separate biogeographic subregion having a largely endemic freshwater fauna, the boundaries of this subregion are still unclear. We use freshwater mussels (Unionidae) as a model to reconstruct spatial patterns of freshwater biogeographic divides throughout Asia. Here, we present an updated freshwater biogeographic division of mainland Southeast Asia and describe 12 species and 4 genera of freshwater mussels new to science. We show that the Isthmus of Kra represents a significant southern biogeographic barrier between freshwater mussel faunas of the Western Indochina and Sundaland subregions, while the Indian and Western Indochina subregions are separated by the Naga Hills, Chin Hills, and Rakhine Yoma mountain ranges. Our findings highlight that the freshwater bivalve fauna of Southeast Asia primarily originated within three evolutionary hotspots (Western Indochina, Sundaland, and East Asian) supplemented by ancient immigrants from the Indian Subcontinent.

Freshwater mussels are ecosystem engineers and keystone species in aquatic environments. Unfortunately, due to dramatic declines this fauna is among the most threatened globally. Here, we clarify the taxonomy and biogeography of Russian Unionidae species based on the most comprehensive multi-locus dataset sampled to date. We revise the distribution and assess the conservation status for each species. This fauna comprises 16 native species from 11 genera and 4 tribes: Anodonta, Pseudanodonta (Anodontini); Amuranodonta, Beringiana, Buldowskia, Cristaria, Sinanodonta (Cristariini); Middendorffinaia, Nodularia, Unio (Unionini); and Lanceolaria (Lanceolariini). No country-level endemic species are known in Russia, except for Buldowskia suifunica that may also occur in China. Sinanodonta woodiana, a non-native species, was introduced from China. Russia comprises the northern parts of Western and Eastern Palearctic subregions. The first subregion with six species encompasses a huge area from the western boundary of Russia to the Lena Basin in Siberia. The second subregion with 10 species covers the Amur Basin, rivers east of the Lena Basin, coastal basins of the Japan Sea, and the North Pacific Islands. The fauna of Russia primarily includes widespread generalist species that are here considered Least Concern (LC). However, Buldowskia suifunica and Sinanodonta lauta have restricted distributions and are assessed here as Vulnerable (VU) and Endangered (EN), respectively.

Freshwater mussels (Unionida) are one of the most imperiled animal groups worldwide, revealing the fastest rates of extinction. Habitat degradation, river pollution and climate change are the primary causes of global decline. However, biological threats for freshwater mussels are still poorly known. Here, we describe a diverse ecological group of leeches (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae) inhabiting the mantle cavity of freshwater mussels. So far, examples of mussel-associated leech species are recorded from East Asia, Southeast Asia, India and Nepal, Africa, and North America. This group comprises a dozen glossiphoniid species with a hidden life style inside the mantle cavity of their hosts largely overlooked by researchers. We show that the association with freshwater mussels evolved independently in three leech clades, i.e. Batracobdelloides, Hemiclepsis, and Placobdella, at least since the Miocene. Seven mussel-associated leech species and two additional free-living taxa are described here as new to science.

Freshwater mussels are sensitive to habitat and water quality, revealing the fastest rates of human-mediated global extinction among aquatic animals. These animals are especially diverse in tropical Asia, the faunas of which are characterized by high levels of endemism. Here we describe four new species and four new subspecies of freshwater mussels from Myanmar. Leoparreysia whitteni sp. nov., the smallest representative of this genus, was discovered from the Ayeyarwady and Chindwin rivers. Radiatula myitthanensis sp. nov. and R. chindwinensis sp. nov. were recorded from the Chindwin Basin, and R. mouhoti haungthayawensis ssp. nov. has been discovered from the Haungthayaw River. Indochinella pugio has been revised with a description of three subspecies: I. pugio viridissima ssp. nov. from the Sittaung, Bilin and Bago rivers, I. pugio daweiensis ssp. nov. from the Dawei River, and I. pugio paradoxa ssp. nov. from the Haungthayaw River. Yaukthwa elongatula sp. nov., a peculiar species, conchologically resembling representatives of the genus Solenaia (Gonideinae) with ultra-elongated shell was found in the Chindwin Basin. Our records highlight that tropical Asia harbors numerous, but still overlooked local endemic lineages of freshwater bivalves, which may be on the brink of extinction due to the high anthropogenic and climate change impacts.

The High Arctic bumble bee fauna is rather poorly known, while a growing body of recent molecular research indicates that several Arctic species may represent endemic lineages with restricted ranges. Such local endemics are in need of special conservation efforts because of the increasing anthropogenic pressure and climate changes. Here, we re-examine the taxonomic and biogeographic affinities of bumble bees from Novaya Zemlya using historical samples and recently collected materials (1895-1925 vs. 2015-2017). Three bumble bee species inhabit the Yuzhny (Southern) Island and the southern edge of Severny (Northern) Island of this archipelago: Bombusglacialis Friese, 1902, B.hyperboreus Schönherr, 1809, and B.pyrrhopygus Friese, 1902. Bombusglacialis shares three unique COI haplotypes that may indicate its long-term (pre-glacial) persistence on Novaya Zemlya. In contrast, Bombushyperboreus and B.pyrrhopygus share a rather low molecular divergence from mainland populations, with the same or closely related haplotypes as those from Arctic Siberia and Norway. A brief re-description of Bombuspyrrhopygus based on the newly collected topotypes is presented. Habitats, foraging plants and life cycles of bumble bees on Novaya Zemlya are characterized, and possible causes of extremely low bumble bee abundance on the archipelago are discussed. The species-poor bumble bee fauna of Novaya Zemlya is compared with those in other areas throughout the Arctic. The mean bumble bee species richness on the Arctic Ocean islands is three times lower than that in the mainland Arctic areas (3.1 vs. 8.6 species per local fauna, respectively). General linear models (GLMs) indicate that this difference can be explained by specific environmental conditions of insular areas. Our findings highlight that the insularity is a significant factor sharply decreasing species richness in bumble bee assemblages on the Arctic Ocean archipelagoes through colder climate (lower summer temperatures), prevalence of harsh Arctic tundra landscapes with poor foraging resources, and in isolation from the mainland.

Margaritiferidae is a small freshwater bivalve family with 16 species. In spite of a small number of taxa and long-term history of research, several gaps in our knowledge on the freshwater pearl mussels still exist. Here we present the discovery of host fishes for Margaritifera dahurica, i.e. Lower Amur grayling, sharp-snouted lenok, and blunt-snouted lenok. The host fishes were studied in rivers of the Ussuri Basin. The identification of glochidia and fish hosts was confirmed by DNA analysis. The life cycle of M. dahurica and its glochidia are described for the first time. The SEM study of glochidia revealed that the rounded, unhooked Margaritifera dahurica larvae are similar to those of the other Margaritiferidae. Margaritifera dahurica is a tachytictic breeder, the larvae of which attach to fish gills during the Late August - September and finish the metamorphosis in June. Ancestral host reconstruction and a review of the salmonid - pearl mussel coevolution suggest that the ancestral host of the Margaritiferidae was a non-salmonid fish, while that of the genus Margaritifera most likely was an early salmonid species or their stem lineage. The overfishing of lenoks and graylings appears to be the most significant threat for this rare mussel species.

The systematics of Oriental freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) is poorly known. Here, we present an integrative revision of the genus Trapezoideus Simpson, 1900 to further understanding of freshwater mussel diversity in the region. We demonstrate that Trapezoideus as currently circumscribed is non-monophyletic, with its former species belonging to six other genera, one of which is new to science and described here. We recognize Trapezoideus as a monotypic genus, comprised of the type species, T. foliaceus. Trapezoideus comptus, T. misellus, T. pallegoixi, and T. peninsularis are transferred to the genus Contradens, T. subclathratus is moved to Indonaia, and T. theca is transferred to Lamellidens. Trapezoideus prashadi is found to be a junior synonym of Arcidopsis footei. Trapezoideus dallianus, T. nesemanni, T. panhai, T. peguensis, and two species new to science are placed in Yaukthwa gen. nov. This genus appears to be endemic of the Western Indochina Subregion. The two new species, Yaukthwa paiensis sp. nov. and Y. inlenensis sp. nov., are both endemic to the Salween River basin. Our results highlight that Southeast Asia is a species-rich freshwater mussel diversity hotspot with numerous local endemic species, which are in need of special conservation efforts.

Samples from 11 populations of the Arctic char of the North-European part of Russia belonging to the anadromous and resident forms and two samples from Lake Sobach'e (Taimyr) were studied. The nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial COI gene was determined in 60 individuals. In the majority of populations, the same COI haplotype was found. In some populations of the resident chars, haplotypes differing from the widespread haplotype in a single nucleotide substitution were found. The obtained genetic data give no reason to distinguish the resident form of the Arctic char from lakes of Karelia and the Kola Peninsula as an independent species, Salvelinus lepechini. The adaptation of the Arctic char to the unstable environmental conditions is ensured primarily by its phenotypic plasticity.

The razor clam genus Novaculina represents an example of a marine-derived, secondary freshwater group. It was thought to comprise three species: N. gangetica (Ganges and smaller basins in Bangladesh and northwestern Myanmar), N. siamensis (Bang Pakong and Pasak rivers in Thailand and Mekong River in Vietnam), and N. chinensis (lower Yangtze River, China). Here we describe Novaculina myanmarensis sp. nov., an additional species from the Ayeyarwady and Salween basins representing a divergent lineage that appears to be sister to N. gangetica. This new record closes a Novaculina range disjunction between northwestern Myanmar and Thailand. The populations of this novel species share a shallow molecular divergence from each other indicating potential dispersal events between the two distant freshwater basins during the Late Pleistocene. Our ancestral area modeling suggests that the MRCA of Novaculina crown group was a salt-tolerant freshwater species. The recent Novaculina species most likely originated via allopatric speciation. Our findings highlight that generalist estuarine species could have played the role as a source for bivalve expansions into freshwater and that western Indochina is a separate biogeographic subregion, which is clearly distinct from India. A new synonymy is proposed as follows: Pharellinae Stoliczka, 1870 = Novaculininae Ghosh, 1920 syn. nov.

Associations of various invertebrate species with bryozoans and sponges are a well-known marine phenomenon but such epizooic communities are far less diverse in freshwater environments. Here an occurrence of numerous leeches Alboglossiphoniacf.papillosa (Braun, 1805), in interstitial spaces between zooids of a colony of the freshwater bryozoan species Plumatellaaff.fungosa (Pallas, 1768) in Eastern Siberia is described. To the best of our knowledge, this record appears to be the first known example of a leech-bryozoan association, although such relationships deserve further research.

Two Unionida (freshwater mussel) families are present in the Northern Hemisphere; the Margaritiferidae, representing the most threatened of unionid families, and the Unionidae, which include several genera of unresolved taxonomic placement. The recent reassignment of the poorly studied Lamprotula rochechouartii from the Unionidae to the Margaritiferidae motivated a new search for other potential species of margaritiferids from members of Gibbosula and Lamprotula. Based on molecular and morphological analyses conducted on newly collected specimens from Vietnam, we here assign Gibbosula crassa to the Margaritiferidae. Additionally, we reanalyzed all diagnostic characteristics of the Margaritiferidae and examined museum specimens of Lamprotula and Gibbosula. As a result, two additional species are also moved to the Margaritiferidae, i.e. Gibbosula confragosa and Gibbosula polysticta. We performed a robust five marker phylogeny with all available margaritiferid species and discuss the taxonomy within the family. The present phylogeny reveals the division of Margaritiferidae into four ancient clades with distinct morphological, biogeographical and ecological characteristics that justify the division of the Margaritiferidae into two subfamilies (Gibbosulinae and Margaritiferinae) and four genera (Gibbosula, Cumberlandia, Margaritifera, and Pseudunio). The systematics of the Margaritiferidae family is re-defined as well as their distribution, potential origin and main biogeographic patterns., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The Sinanodonta woodiana species complex includes several cryptic species-level phylogenetic lineages, the taxonomic placement of which is unclear. Here, we present the results of molecular analyses of a Sinanodonta sample from Middle Asia (Uzbekistan). The COI haplotype of the Uzbekistan lineage is similar to those of invasive Sinanodonta populations from Europe, Russia and Myanmar. We show that the non-native Sinanodonta flocks in Europe and Middle Asia originated from a single source population in China. Our results reveal that the Sinanodonta woodiana species complex comprises at least six distinct biological species: S. cf. gibba (=temperate invasive lineage), S. cf. woodiana (=tropical invasive lineage), S. schrenkii (=S. amurensis), S. ovata, S. jourdyi, and S. lucida, and two phylogenetic lineages with uncertain taxonomic names.

The radicine pond snails represent a species-rich and widely distributed group, many species of which are key vectors of human and animal trematodoses. Here we clarify the taxonomy, distribution and evolutionary biogeography of the radicine lymnaeids in the Old World based on the most comprehensive multi-locus molecular dataset sampled to date. We show that the subfamily Amphipepleinae is monophyletic and contains at least ten genus-level clades: Radix Montfort, 1810, Ampullaceana Servain, 1881, Peregriana Servain, 1881, Tibetoradix Bolotov, Vinarski & Aksenova gen. nov., Kamtschaticana Kruglov & Starobogatov, 1984, Orientogalba Kruglov & Starobogatov, 1985, Cerasina Kobelt, 1881, Myxas G. B. Sowerby I, 1822, Bullastra Bergh, 1901, and Austropeplea Cotton, 1942. With respect to our phylogeny, species-delimitation model and morphological data, the Old World fauna includes 35 biological species of radicines. Tibet and Eastern Europe harbor the richest faunas, while East Asia and Africa appear to be the most species-poor areas. The radicine clade could have originated near the Cretaceous - Paleocene boundary. The Miocene great lakes in Eurasia seems to be the most important evolutionary hotspots shaping spatial patterns of recent species richness. Finally, we present the first DNA barcode reference library for the reliable molecular identification of species within this group.

Macrobioerosion is a common process in marine ecosystems. Many types of rock-boring organisms break down hard substrates, particularly carbonate rocks and calcareous structures such as dead corals and shells. In paleontology, the presence of rocks with boreholes and fossil macroboring assemblage members is one of the primary diagnostic features of shallow marine paleo-environments. Here we describe a silicate rock-boring organism and an associated community in submerged siltstone rock outcrops in Kaladan River, Myanmar. The rock-boring mussel Lignopholas fluminalis is a close relative of the marine piddocks, and its borings belong to the ichnospecies Gastrochaenolites anauchen. The neotectonic uplift of the area leading to gradual decrease of the sea level with subsequent shift from estuarine to freshwater environment was the most likely driver for the origin of this community. Our findings highlight that rocks with macroborings are not an exclusive indicator of marine paleo-ecosystems, but may also reflect freshwater habitats.

Origins of the fauna in Iceland is controversial, although the majority of modern research supports the postglacial colonization of this island by terrestrial invertebrates rather than their long-term survival in glacial refugia. In this study, we use three bumblebee species as a model to test the hypothesis regarding possible cryptic refugia in Iceland and to evaluate a putative origin of recently introduced taxa. Bombus jonellus is thought to be a possible native Icelandic lineage, whereas B. lucorum and B. hortorum were evidently introduced in the second half of the 20 th century. These phylogeographic analyses reveal that the Icelandic Bombus jonellus shares two COI lineages, one of which also occurs in populations on the British Isles and in mainland Europe, but a second lineage (BJ-02) has not been recorded anywhere. These results indicate that this species may have colonized Iceland two times and that the lineage BJ-02 may reflect a more ancient Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene founder event (e.g., from the British Isles). The Icelandic populations of both Bombus lucorum and B. hortorum share the COI lineages that were recorded as widespread throughout Eurasia, from the European countries across Russia to China and Japan. The findings presented here highlight that the bumblebee fauna of Iceland comprises mainly widespread ubiquitous lineages that arrived via natural or human-mediated dispersal events from the British Isles or the mainland.

The freshwater mussel genus Oxynaia Haas, 1911 is thought to be comprised of two geographically disjunct and morphologically variable species groups but the monophyly of this taxon has yet to be tested in any modern cladistic sense. This generic hypothesis has important systematic and biogeographic implications as Oxynaia is the type genus of the currently recognized tribe Oxynaiini (Parreysiinae) and is one of the few genera thought to cross several biogeographically important barriers in Southeast Asia. Morphological and molecular data clearly demonstrate that Oxynaia is not monophyletic, and the type species and its allies (O. jourdyi group) belong to the Unioninae, and more specifically as members of the genus Nodularia Conrad, 1853. Therefore, neither Oxynaia syn. nov. nor Oxynaiini Starobogatov, 1970 are applicable to the Parreysiinae and in the absence of an available name, Indochinella gen. nov. and Indochinellini trib. nov. are described. Several combinations are proposed as follows: Indochinella pugio (Benson, 1862) gen. et comb. nov., Nodularia jourdyi (Morlet, 1886) comb. res., N. gladiator (Ancey, 1881) comb. res., N. diespiter (Mabille, 1887) comb. res. and N. micheloti (Morlet, 1886) comb. res. Finally, we provide an updated freshwater biogeographic division of Southeast Asia.

Populations of widespread pest insects in tropical areas are characterized by a complex evolutionary history, with overlapping natural and human-mediated dispersal events, sudden expansions, and bottlenecks. Here, we provide biogeographic reconstructions for two widespread pest species in the tiger moth genus Creatonotos (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae) based on the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. The Asian Creatonotos transiens reveals shallow genetic divergence between distant populations that does not support its current intraspecific systematics with several local subspecies. In contrast, the more widespread Creatonotos gangis comprises at least three divergent subclades corresponding to certain geographic areas, i.e. Australia, Arabia + South Asia and Southeast Asia. With respect to our approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) model, the expansion of Creatonotos gangis into Australia is placed in the Late Pleistocene (~65-63 ka). This dating coincide with an approximate time of the earliest human migration into the continent (~65-54 ka) and the period of intervisibility between Timor and Australia (~65-62 ka). Our findings highlight that the drying Sunda and Sahul shelf areas likely support successful migrations of Asian taxa into Australia during the Pleistocene. The phylogeographic patterns discovered in this study can be used to improve the effectiveness of integrated pest control programs that is a task of substantial practical importance to a broad range of agricultural stakeholders.

The effects of climate change on oligotrophic rivers and their communities are almost unknown, albeit these ecosystems are the primary habitat of the critically endangered freshwater pearl mussel and its host fishes, salmonids. The distribution and abundance of pearl mussels have drastically decreased throughout Europe over the last century, particularly within the southern part of the range, but causes of this wide-scale extinction process are unclear. Here we estimate the effects of climate change on pearl mussels based on historical and recent samples from 50 rivers and 6 countries across Europe. We found that the shell convexity may be considered an indicator of the thermal effects on pearl mussel populations under warming climate because it reflects shifts in summer temperatures and is significantly different in viable and declining populations. Spatial and temporal modeling of the relationship between shell convexity and population status show that global climate change could have accelerated the population decline of pearl mussels over the last 100 years through rapidly decreasing suitable distribution areas. Simulation predicts future warming-induced range reduction, particularly in southern regions. These results highlight the importance of large-scale studies of keystone species, which can underscore the hidden effects of climate warming on freshwater ecosystems.

The tussock moth genus Leptocneria Butler, 1886 (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Lymantriinae) has been considered an entirely Australian taxon that includes two species: L. reducta (Walker, 1855) and L. binotata Butler, 1886. However, we discovered a divergent lineage of Leptocneria inhabiting Flores Island, Lesser Sundas, Indonesia. Here, we describe this lineage as the third species of the genus, L. vinarskii Bolotov, Kondakov et Spitsyn sp. nov. The new species is sister to L. reducta but differs from it by dark gray marking patterns of the forewing that lack orange or dark yellow marks. The mean COI genetic distance between L. vinarskii sp. nov. and L. reducta sensu lato is 2.9%. Our findings confirm that the Wallacean region was a faunal exchange area between Sundaland and Sahul during the Pleistocene but highlight that the vicariance events may have played a crucial role in origin of the endemic faunas on the islands of East Nusa Tenggara. Additionally, we show that both Australian species most likely represent cryptic species complexes, which are in need of further taxonomic revision.

Southeast Asia harbors a unique and diverse freshwater fauna of Mesozoic origin, which is under severe threat of extinction because of rapid economic development and urbanization. The largest freshwater basins of the region are certainly the primary evolutionary hotspots and they attract the most attention as key biodiversity areas for conservation. In contrast, medium-sized rivers are considered low-importance areas with secondary biodiversity, whose faunas originated via founder events from larger basins during the Pleistocene, although such a scenario has never been tested by using a phylogenetic approach. In this investigation, we used freshwater mussels (Unionidae) as a model to estimate the levels of endemism within the Sittaung, a little-known remote basin in Myanmar, compared with the surrounding larger rivers (Irrawaddy, Salween and Mekong). We discovered that the Sittaung represents an exceptional evolutionary hotspot with numerous endemic taxa of freshwater mussels. On the basis of our extensive dataset, we describe two new tribes, two genera, seven species and a subspecies of Unionidae. Our results highlight that medium-sized basins may represent separate evolutionary hotspots that harbor a number of endemic lineages. These basins should therefore be a focus of special conservation efforts alongside the largest Southeast Asian rivers.

The concept of long-lived (ancient) lakes has had a great influence on the development of evolutionary biogeography. According to this insight, a number of lakes on Earth have existed for several million years (e.g., Baikal and Tanganyika) and represent unique evolutionary hotspots with multiple intra-basin radiations. In contrast, rivers are usually considered to be variable systems, and the possibility of their long-term existence during geological epochs has never been tested. In this study, we reconstruct the history of freshwater basin interactions across continents based on the multi-locus fossil-calibrated phylogeny of freshwater mussels (Unionidae). These mussels most likely originated in Southeast and East Asia in the Jurassic, with the earliest expansions into North America and Africa (since the mid-Cretaceous) following the colonization of Europe and India (since the Paleocene). We discovered two ancient monophyletic mussel radiations (mean age ~51-55 Ma) within the paleo-Mekong catchment (i.e., the Mekong, Siam, and Malacca Straits paleo-river drainage basins). Our findings reveal that the Mekong may be considered a long-lived river that has existed throughout the entire Cenozoic epoch.

The taxonomy and biogeographic history of the bivalve family Margaritiferidae are controversial because previous molecular studies did not provide a well-resolved phylogenetic framework for these enigmatic freshwater mussels that have extensive but disjunct distribution in North America, Eurasia and North Africa. In this study, we present a new, fossil-calibrated phylogenetic hypothesis based on five molecular markers (∼4kb of total length) for ten species. Our results indicate that all recent margaritiferids are in the single genus, Margaritifera Schumacher, 1816. Additionally, we identified three relatively well-supported phylogenetic clades that are valid subgenera, i.e., Margaritifera s. str. (Holarctic), Margaritanopsis (=Cumberlandia) (southeast North America-southeast Asia disjunct) and Pseudunio (Mediterranean). We suggest that the crown lineage of the Margaritiferidae most likely originated in the Cretaceous (mean age 93Ma, 95% CI 66-126Ma). The combined results of ancestral area reconstructions based on the three different approaches (S-DIVA, DEC and S-DEC) showed that ancient vicariance events could have played an important role in speciation within the family. The rates of mitochondrial evolution of margaritiferids are notably slow, which may be associated with their longevity, long generation time and low metabolic rates. Our findings highlight the complex biogeographic history of the Margaritiferidae as an intermixing of ancient vicariance and dispersal events, which were most likely associated with some inland barriers, continental movements and a sea level dynamic., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The molecular techniques are the standard tool for the study of the taxonomic position and phylogenetic affinities of the lymnaeid genus Radix Montfort, 1810, and the majority of the European representatives of this taxon have been studied in this respect. However, a plethora of nominal species of Radix described from Northern Asia (Siberia and the Russian Far East) are still characterized only morphologically, raising some doubts concerning their validity. In this paper, we present the triple (morphological, molecular, and zoogeographical) evidence that there is at least one endemic species of Radix, Radix dolgini (Gundrizer and Starobogatov, 1979), widely distributed in Siberia and Western Mongolia. Phylogenetically, it is a sister species to the European R. labiata (Rossmaessler, 1835) [=R. peregra auct.], and their common ancestor most probably lived in the Pliocene, nearly 3.25Myr ago. Our results assume the existence of an extended dispersal barrier for freshwater hydrobionts between Europe and Siberia in the Late Pliocene that may be important for biogeographical explanations. Three other nominal Siberian species of Radix: R. kurejkae (Gundrizer and Starobogatov, 1979), R. gundrizeri (Kruglov and Starobogatov, 1983), and R. ulaganica (Kruglov and Starobogatov, 1983) proved to be the junior synonyms of R. dolgini., (Copyright © 2015 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.)

The freshwater pearl mussel family Margaritiferidae includes 13 extant species, which are all listed by IUCN as endangered or vulnerable taxa. In this study, an extensive spatial sampling of Margaritifera spp. across the Russian Far East (Amur Basin, Kamchatka Peninsula, Kurile Archipelago and Sakhalin Island) was conducted for a revision of their taxonomy and distribution ranges. Based on their DNA sequences, shell and soft tissue morphology, three valid species were identified: Margaritifera dahurica (Middendorff, 1850), M. laevis (Haas, 1910) and M. middendorffi (Rosén, 1926). M. dahurica ranges across the Amur basin and some of the nearest river systems. M. laevis is distributed in Japan, Sakhalin Island and the Kurile Archipelago. M. middendorffi was previously considered an endemic species of the Kamchatka. However, it is widespread in the rivers of Kamchatka, Sakhalin Island, the Kurile Islands (across the Bussol Strait, which is the most significant biogeographical boundary within the archipelago), and, likely, in Japan. The Japanese species M. togakushiensis Kondo & Kobayashi, 2005 seems to be conspecific with M. middendorffi because of similar morphological patterns, small shell size (<100 mm long) and overlapped ranges, but it is in need of a separate revision. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that two NW Pacific margaritiferid species, M. laevis and M. middendorffi, formed a monophyletic 18S rDNA clade together with the North American species M. marrianae and M. falcata. The patterns that were found in these Margaritifera spp. are similar to those of freshwater fishes, indicating multiple colonizations of Eastern Asia by different mitochondrial lineages, including an ancient Beringian exchange between freshwater faunas across the Pacific.