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Protistology the Cadastre of Free-Living Ciliates and Testate Amoebae of Azerbaijan

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Protistology the Cadastre of Free-Living Ciliates and Testate Amoebae of Azerbaijan Protistology 11 (2), 57–129 (2017) Protistology The cadastre of free-living ciliates and testate amoebae of Azerbaijan Ilham Kh. Alekperov, Natalya Yu. Snegovaya and Elyana N.Tahirova Institute of Zoology, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Baku, Azerbaijan | Submitted September 6, 2017 | Accepted September 16, 2017 | Summary This monograhy summarizes the most recent knowledge on species diversity and distribution of free-living ciliates and testate amoebae in natural waters and soils of Azerbaijan. The section on ciliates contains data on 757 species, with the indication of their distribution in 13 regions covering the entire territory of the country. The annotated species list includes the data on distribution of representatives of each ciliate family not only by region but also by the biotopes, including marine and freshwater as well as different soil habitats. The section on testate amoebae contains the data on 265 species, including biodiversity and occurrence of the species by regions and biotopes. This is the first comprehensive summary of the information about free-living ciliates and testate amoebae of Azerbaijan performed using the modern methods. This publication makes a substantial contribution to the existing knowledge of the overall biodiversity of the Caucasus Region. Key words: free-living ciliates, testate amoebae, Azerbaijan doi:10.21685/1680-0826-2017-11-2-1 © 2017 The Author(s) Protistology © 2017 Protozoological Society Affiliated with RAS Dedicated to the Founder of the Azerbaijani protozoology Academician M.A. Musayev Protistology · 59 History of research of free-living ciliates and The start of the modern period of studying testate amoebae in Azerbaijann free-living Protozoa in Azerbaijan was laid by F. Agamaliev’s works on ciliates of the Caspian Sea, The World of Protozoa, mostly heterotrophic which began in the middle of the 1960s. His long- unicellular eukaryotic organisms, is huge: it com- term research broadened our knowledge of free- prises tens of thousands species of diverse morpho- living ciliates of the Caspian Sea. Earlier, according logies inhabiting practically all regions of the globe. to O. Grimm and S. Veysig, only a few ciliate Their role in the biological processes on the Earth species were known, while Agamaliev’s monograph is enormous, and their importance is comparable to “Ciliates of the Caspian Sea: Systematics, ecology, that of the autotrophs. zoogeography” (1983) contained a list of 439 spe- Out of nearly 200,000 morphological species cies, of which 20 species and 1 genus were described of all protists known to date, ca. 40,000 species are for the first time. inhabitants of the seas and oceans. According to the In the 1960s, the first studies of soil protists latest data, more than a half of the Earth’s oxygen were started in the Protistology Laboratory at is produced by the World Ocean due to functioning the Institute of Zoology, Azerbaijan National of the unicellular autotrophic planktonic protists. Academy of Sciences (Amiraslanova, 1967), and Therefore, the notion “Woods are the lungs of the in the 1980s some additional complex studies Earth” should be rather changed to: “Plankton are on protistan pedobionts from several taxonomic the lungs of the Earth”. groups (flagellates, amoebae, ciliates) were carried In fresh waters and soils, the role of free- out. The soil protists of citrus plants plantations in living heterotrophic protists (Protozoa) is likewise Lankaran (Ibadov, 1983) and in cultivated soils of important: they actively participate in the processes Absheron (Mirza-zade, 1989) were investigated. It of production and decomposition of organic matter. should be noted that those researches were rather For example, being bacteriophages, most ciliates of ecological than of faunistic nature, and thus they and testate amoebae consume large amounts of were carried out without using the relevant species bacteria, including pathogens, thereby contributing identification methods that are obligatory for the to biological purification of the environment. precise taxonomic determinations. Soil Protozoa actively participate in the processes The first special investigation of soil testate of increasing soil fertility. According to modern amoebae in Azerbaijan was fulfilled in the 1990s estimates, biomass of soil protozoans is quite (Zaidov, 1995). The 93 species of testate amoeba comparable to biomass of multicellular pedobionts. were found in the forest soils of North-Western Information on free-living Protozoa of Azerbai- Azerbaijan, of which 39 species were first observed jan in the publications of the early authors is very for the fauna of the Caucasus, and 66 species scarce (Grimm, 1876, 1877; Veysig, 1930, 1931, were first records for the fauna of Azerbaijan. 1939, 1940; Alizade, 1934, 1938, 1939, 1941, Unfortunately, at present studies of the soil testate 1942). The main literature source is the Doctoral amoebae are not carried out in Azerbaijan. Dissertation of S.Ya. Veysig (1940) entitled “Mate- In the 80s of the XX century, several integrated rials on the microscopic hydrofauna of the Caucasus hydrobiological investigations of freshwater micro- and its zoogeographical analysis”. Further on, the benthos were performed; during those studies, monograph by A. Kasymov, the Corresponding along with the other groups of aquatic organisms, Member of the Azerbaijan National Academy of free-living ciliates were investigated, and 15 ciliate Sciences, entitled “Hydrofauna of the Lower Kura species were described for the first time (Aliev, and the Mingechaurian Reservoir”, published 1987a, 1987b, 1990a, 1990b, 1991). in 1965, and also his second monograph, “The However, special regular investigations targeted Freshwater Fauna of the Caucasus” (Kasymov, on freshwater ciliates of Azerbaijan started only in 1972) summarized the state-of-the-arts of this topic, 1972 by I. Alekperov. Taxonomic results of these with few additions to the already known data. long-term works were summarized and published Analyzing the data of the early authors, we can in 2005, in his monograph “Atlas of Free-Living conclude that only 53 species of ciliates and Ciliates (classes Kinetofragminophora, Colpodea, 49 species of amoebae (both “bare” and testate) Polyhymenophora)”, in which on the base of silver from marine and fresh waters of Azerbaijan were impregnation methods the illustrated descriptions known until the modern research period started. of 251 species of ciliates, including 2 new families, 60 · Ilham Kh. Alekperov, Natalya Yu. Snegovaya and Elyana N. Tahirova 8 genera and 90 species were presented (Alekperov, is represented by 275 species, of which 2 families, 2005). 8 genera and 47 species were described for the first Of special importance for the knowledge of time (Snegovaya, Alekperov, 2005, 2009, 2010a, general biodiversity were the results of studies of 2010b). The studies of this group are currently in free-living ciliates conducted in 1990 jointly with progress (Snegovaya, Tahirova, 2015). the colleagues from the Institute of Biology of Thus, the accumulated knowledge and vast, the Kyrgyzstan Academy of Sciences, during the largely unpublished data on the biodiversity of these complex scientific expedition to Midle Asia. Three two groups of the free-living Protozoa in Azerbaijan researchers – S. Dashdamirov, H. Aliyev and I. required systematization and unification. Here Alekperov from the Institute of Zoology, Azerbaijan we summarize all subsequent results of our own National Academy of Sciences, participated in studies and also the reliable faunistic data from the this joint research. During the 2 months-long published sources on the free-living ciliates from expedition, several groups of animals, including marine, freshwater and soil habitats, as well as free-living ciliates, were sampled from the inland freshwater and soil amoebae of Azerbaijan. waters of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and It goes without saying that this book is only the partially Kazakhstan. The samples collected in the first attempt to sum up the results of studies of these high-mountain fresh water reservoirs, as well as in two large groups of Protozoa in a certain geographic the saline Issyk-Kul Lake were processed in Baku. region, obtained (which is very important) by modern Moreover, according to the agreement with mandatory methods of taxonomic identification of the colleagues-protozoologists from the Institute species. The data on the species diversity of ciliates of Oceanology, USSR Academy of Sciences, in and testate amoebae presented in this monograph the late 1980s the preserved samples of planktonic can be used for the adequate comparison of the ciliates from different areas of the Chukchi and faunas of Azerbaijan and the other regions of the Bering seas, as well as soil samples from the Line world, where the studies were also carried out Island (Polynesia) were delivered to the Protistology at the required methodological level, since only Laboratory at the Institute of Zoology, Azerbaijan comparison of the data obtained by using the same National Academy of Sciences for processing. All methods gives the real picture of the protozoan those unique materials were processed successfully zoogeography. Alternatively, we inevitably get stuck and the obtained results, including the description of to the “cosmopolitanism theory” of the Protozoa. one new ciliate family and more than 10 new species, All issues mentioned above explain the actuality were published (Alekperov, Mamaeva, 1992). of this
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