Ivan N. Bolotov

• DSc (Biol.), Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Principal Investigator at Russian Academy of Sciences

Based on phylogenetic and morphological evidence, we introduce two new genus-group names for freshwater leeches of the family Glossiphoniidae. First, Eurobdelloides Bolotov & Pešić gen. nov. is described for Batracobdelloides moogi Nesemann & Csányi, 1995, a rare snail-feeding leech from Europe. Second, Hippobdelloides Bolotov & Pešić gen. nov. is...

The Menetries’ Tiger Moth Arctia menetriesii can be considered a prospective umbrella/indicator/flagship species for conservation programs, highlighting primeval Eurasian taiga forests. To examine its inter-annual population dynamics, host plants, habitat preferences and phenology, a dataset from field surveys and experimental research was compiled...

Freshwater mussels are characterized by a high degree of shell variability but the factors controlling spatial conchological shifts are poorly understood. Here, we use the Duck Mussel Anodonta anatina (Linnaeus, 1758) (Unionidae) as a target species to address the influence of environmental, ontogenetic, and genetic variables on the shell shape var...

In 1902, Nikolaj Livanow described a new genus, Protoclepsis, together with three new nominal species: P. meyeri, P. garjaewi, and P. tessellatoides. The syntypes of the first species were collected in Kazan (European Russia), while those of the two latter species were obtained from Lake Baikal (Siberia). The genus Protoclepsis Livanow, 1902 was es...

The Indian subcontinent houses a unique fauna of freshwater mussels. Tectonic and biogeographic reconstructions indicate that this fauna represents a derivative of Mesozoic Gondwanan biota and that it arrived in Asia on the Indian Plate, using this tectonic block as a ‘biotic ferry’. Though a preliminary integrative revision of the Indian Unionidae...

This dataset contains photographic data from our article entitled "Rediscovered historical lots uncover the identity of Nikolaj A. Livanow’s Protoclepsis species and clarify the taxonomy of Palearctic waterfowl-associated leeches (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae)" in Systematic Parasitology; https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-025-10221-3. In particular, pho...

The Russian desman ( Desmana moschata ) is a rare member of the Desmaninae subfamily, displaying a semi-aquatic lifestyle. We assembled the whole genome of this species using Illumina, a short-read sequencing approach. The whole genome sequencing outputs were assembled using the Abyss2 de novo approach. The raw data and assembled genome are publicl...

The Russian desman (Desmana moschata) is a rare member of the Desmaninae subfamily, displaying a semi-aquatic lifestyle. We assembled the whole genome of this species using Illumina, a short-read sequencing approach. The whole genome sequencing outputs were assembled using the Abyss2 de novo approach. The raw data and assembled genome are publicly...

The India-Eurasia continental collision and the subsequent uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have profoundly influenced the diversification and endemism of aquatic organisms across Asia. Notably, the freshwater razor clam genus Novaculina, previously the sole known freshwater member of the family Pharidae, originally comprised four species distri...

Lake Issyk-Kul, situated in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, is one of the largest lakes in Central Asia. Though this brackish-water basin holds only a species-poor fauna of molluscs, the number of species inhabiting Issyk-Kul and their true taxonomic position remain unsatisfactorily studied. Most nominal species of Mollusca reported from Issyk-Kul are...

In this study, we analyzed the patterns of dispersal and colonization of ground beetles on the Solovet-sky Islands. Our goals were to: (1) revise the Carabidae fauna and its structure, including that of the nearby mainland Onega Peninsula; (2) explore the migration flow of species from the mainland; and (3) reveal the spatial and temporal structure...

The zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha (Bivalvia: Dreissenidae), is one of the most aggressive and actively spreading freshwater species worldwide. In this study, we examined the genetic diversity and dispersal vectors of D. polymorpha from native and invasive populations using mtDNA COI and nuclear ITS2 sequences. We discovered a low level of the...

In this paper we present the results of our field survey in the Kushereka River and preliminary data concerning the size structure, age composition, and population density of the freshwater pearl mussel M. margaritifera in the studied sites.

Freshwater organisms are among the most vulnerable species being impaired by global climate change. Freshwater Pearl Mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera) is a keystone species that facilitates a number of important ecosystem functions in cold water oligotrophic streams, while is currently facing habitat alteration and degradation due to human activ...

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...

The Onega Peninsula in the White Sea, northwestern Russia, is a habitat for ecologically and economically significant salmonid species, i.e. Atlantic salmon Salmo salar Linnaeus, 1758 and brown trout S. trutta Linnaeus, 1758 (Salmoninae). However, these populations are currently understudied in terms of molecular approach. In this work, we assessed...

The present study reports on the first record of a non-native population of the freshwater mussel Pilsbryoconcha exilis (Lea, 1838) (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in Myanmar. It was discovered from irrigation canals that are situated in the Delta Region of the Ayeyarwady River. Based on approximate age estimates and information from local villagers, this po...

In this work, we present an integrative revision of the Lymnaeidae from the northeastern margin of Asia (Far East Russia, Japan, and Korea) and Alaska. According to our results, 14 native species inhabit this region, belonging to eight genera in two subfamilies (Lymnaeinae: Dallirhytis, Galba, Walhiana, Ladislavella, and Lymnaea; and Amphipepleinae...

Four populations of freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera were studied at lower sections of three river basins of the eastern part of the Onega Peninsula, Northern European Russia: the Bol’shaya Syarta, the Ust’-Yaren’ga and the Lopshen’ga (including Kamenny Stream). One of the populations from the Lopshen’ga River was discovered for...

In this correspondence, we reexamine and illustrate a few interesting specimens from the historical Hirudinea collection in the EEZM-Edward Eversman Zoology Museum and Herbarium, Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University (formerly Zootomy Cabinet Museum of the Imperial Kazan University), prepared by Nikolaj A. Livanow and Eduard A. Meyer. First, four...

This dataset contains video and photographic data from our article entitled "A high-altitude population of Hyperboreomyzon polaris (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae) in Altai Mountains, South Siberia, Russia" (Eliseeva et al., 2024 in Systematic Parasitology; https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-024-10169-w). In particular, we present a series of movies (Movie...

The research has been carried out in the Arkhangelsk forestry of the Arkhangelsk Region in a drained shrub-sphagnum pine forest. Census trees of medium diameter and height for the stand have been selected, from which samples of needles, both living and dying yellow ones, and shoots of different ages have been taken on model branches. Soil samples h...

The subfamily Sphaeriinae is a diverse and ecologically significant group of freshwater invertebrates, playing a keystone role in the energy flow and nutrient cycling in aquatic ecosystems. Despite a long history of its study, the taxonomic structure and species content of this group are a matter of ongoing disputes between malacologists. We clarif...

This data supplements our article "Discovery of an endemism hotspot of freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in Assam, with a description of two new genera" (Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2024; https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae052) and contains one zip archive with 11 files, described below. Cover Image: Living topotype of A...

In this paper, we modelled the Chinese pond mussel distribution in the European subcontinent under the recent climatic conditions and two climate change scenarios. Using species records of Sinanodonta woodiana (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in Europe and a set of bioclimatic variables, we applied the maximum entropy approach provided by MaxEnt to build the...

The global decline of freshwater mussels and their crucial ecological services highlight the need to understand their phylogeny, phylogeography and patterns of genetic diversity to guide conservation efforts. Such knowledge is urgently needed for Unio crassus, a highly imperilled species originally widespread throughout Europe and southwest Asia. R...

In this review, we synthesize the current knowledge of the biology, ecology, and impact of Sinanodonta freshwater mussels (Bivalvia, Unionidae), native to East Asia, that have successfully invaded Europe, Central America, North Africa, and several Asian regions. The main introduction pathways of Sinanodonta were reconstructed based on DNA sequence...

Repeated emergence and disappearance of the Bering Land Bridge during the Quaternary triggered multiple faunal exchanges between northeast Asia and North America. Older (Early to Middle Pleistocene) dispersal events through the bridge followed by its submergence often lead to the vicariant origin of sister species, whose allopatric ranges are curre...

1. Freshwater mussels (order Unionida) are a popular group for a wide array of non-taxonomic research driven by questions related to their functions in ecosystems, to relationships among species, to biogeochemical and morphometric patterns of certain species and others. Valid taxonomy and correct species identification are key requirements for all...

Concentrations of the chemical elements were analyzed in the shells of a bivalve mollusk species (Beringiana beringiana), water, and bottom sediments from seven lakes located on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kurile Islands, Sakhalin Island, and Primorsky Krai (Northeast Asia). A principal component analysis allowed to determine three factors those w...

The distribution of the recent Lymnaeidae across continents and zoogeographical regions of the world is reviewed, with a brief characteristic of the geographical distribution of each extant lymnaeid genus. The quantitative estimates of the similarity between the lymnaeid faunas of different continents and the largest zoogeographical regions are pro...

A new three-locus (COI + 16S rRNA +28S rRNA) phylogeny of the living representatives of the family Lymnaeidae, which covers the majority of recent genera and subgenera, is proposed. Two living subfamilies (Lymnaeinae Rafinesque, 1815 and Amphipepleinae Pini, 1877), each divided into a series of tribes, are recognized. Four tribes (Austropepleini, O...

In this chapter, we review the molecular approaches that have been applied to the study of ecological and evolutionary processes in lymnaeids. First, we describe the most common molecular techniques used to fix, preserve, dissect, collect, extract, and analyze lymnaeid samples. Second, we give some examples by mentioning studies in which these tech...

In this study, we describe Ambulyx labuanensis sp. nov., a new hawk moth species from Flores Island (East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia). This species is morphologically similar to Ambulyx moorei Moore, 1858, A. amboynensis Rothschild, 1894, A. bakeri (Clark, 1929), A. celebensis (Jordan, 1919), A. dohertyi Rothschild, 1894, and A. semifervens (Walker,...

The accumulation of trace metals in the shells of bivalves allows quantitative assessments of environmental pollution and helps to reconstruct paleo aquatic environments. However, the understanding on how marine and freshwater mollusks control the level of trace elements in their shells remains very limited. Here, we compared the trace element comp...

Despite the full attention of malacologists to the study of Corbicula clams, stimulated mainly due to their high invasive potential and unique breeding system, studies based on an integrative taxonomic approach to identify various invasive lineages of this genus in European Russia are still limited. Our fieldwork was conducted in the Don, Volga, an...

Freshwater mussels belonging to the tribe Pseudodontini (Bivalvia: Unionidae: Gonideinae) play a keystone role in riverine and lacustrine environments throughout Southeast Asia. Many of them are narrowly endemic and habitat specialists, which need special conservation efforts. Unfortunately, the systematics of this group is rather poorly understood...

The depressed river mussel Pseudanodonta complanata (Rossmässler, 1835) is an endangered freshwater bivalve with sparse distribution across Europe. Despite its high conservation priority, available data on the current population genetics and biogeography of P. complanata are very limited. In this paper, we studied the genetic diversity and differen...

Freshwater leeches belonging to the family Salifidae (Hirudinea: Erpobdelliformes) are mostly distributed through tropical and subtropical areas of the Old World but a few species occur in warm temperate regions of East Asia. Here, we report on the first record of a salifid leech in Russia. A previously unknown species was discovered from the Razdo...

Freshwater leeches belonging to the genus Glossiphonia Johnson, 1816 are fairly common benthic annelids in freshwater ecosystems throughout Eurasia, but the taxonomy of this group remains poorly resolved, and the species content of some local faunas is unsatisfactorily known. For example, it was thought that the only widespread species, Glossiphoni...

The studies are carried out in pine stands situated on the forest boundaries, which are in between the open space locations and forest growth areas. The investigations were made on the territory of the Kholmogorskiy and Primorskiy districts in the Arkhangelsk region. The purpose of the research is to identify the characteristics of meteorological f...

The proliferation of genomic sequencing approaches has significantly impacted the field of phylogenetics. Target capture approaches provide a cost-effective, fast and easily applied strategy for phylogenetic inference of non-model organisms. However, several existing target capture processing pipelines are incapable of incorporating whole genome se...

A few studies on parasites associated with Corbicula clams are currently available. Here, we report on the first DNA-based and histological identification of cercariae of the trematode Prosorhynchoides sp. (Digenea: Bucephalidae) in C. fluminea and C. leana from Myanmar. The cercariae of Prosorhynchoides sp. were discovered in the foot tissue of th...

Hot (geothermal) pools and streams, a specific type of aquatic biotopes having almost worldwide distribution, maintain rich faunas of animals belonging to various taxa. Snails (Gastropoda) represent one of such groups, which form populations in geothermal waterbodies of all continents. Some freshwater snail species produce morphologically distinct...

The research was carried out on the territory of the Solovetsky Museum Reserve in various most common types of forests — lichen, cranberry, blueberry, sphagnum and blueberry spruce forests. Temporary taxing trial areas were laid out for the research, widely known and proven methods were used. The stand was studied at each test area, in addition, th...

Some members of the genus Sinanodonta (Modell, 1944) are known as successful invaders of freshwater habitats. Here we report the first record of Sinanodonta lauta (Martens, 1877) from Iran and provide morphological and molecular data on this alien population. This species was observed in the Dez River and a fish farm in Khuzestan, south of Iran. Th...

Madagascar houses a peculiar and largely endemic biota, having ancient Gondwanan affinities. However, the faunal composite of many invertebrate groups on the island is poorly known. For a long time, it was believed that the freshwater leech fauna of Madagascar contains a salifid species (Salifidae) only. Here, we report on a historical record of Pl...

List of Anodonta anatina (Linnaeus, 1758) COI sequences used in this study.

The duck mussel Anodonta anatina is widely distributed throughout the freshwater basins of Northern, Central, and Western Eurasia, and it has a comprehensive genetic structure. This study was devoted to the analysis of lineages, which are defined based on COI gene sequences. Our new dataset was expanded by samples from freshwater basins of Northern...

Currently, the parasitic and endosymbiontic fauna of Corbicula clams remain poorly studied throughout their range. Here, using samples from the Mekong basin, we describe two Symbiocloeon species new to science: Symbiocloeon corbiculinus sp. nov. and Symbiocloeon laoensis sp. nov. Our results and a review of available published data indicate that fr...

Freshwater mussels belonging to the genus Cristaria Schumacher, 1817 (Bivalvia: Unionidae) are widespread from Mongolia to Indochina while the range of one species, C. plicata (Leach, 1814), covers two biogeographic subregions, i.e., East Asian (Amur River to Vietnam) and Sundaland (Mekong River basin). We present here a taxonomic revision of the n...

Southern Thailand represents a region of unique freshwater biodiversity with many endemic taxa, including a number of freshwater mussel species (Bivalvia: Unionidae). In this study, we recognize 13 taxa in the tribes Contradentini, Rectidentini, Pseudodontini (subfamily Gonideinae), and Indochinellini (subfamily Parreysiinae) that inhabit different...

The fish leech Acipenserobdella volgensis (Hirudinea: Piscicolidae) is a rare and poorly known freshwater species, which is thought to be an obligate parasite of sturgeons. This leech has a disjunctive range in Europe and Eastern Siberia. Here, we estimate the phylogenetic affinities and host range of A. volgensis using a set of DNA sequences (COI...

It is established that the mollusk fauna of Kolguev Island (eastern part of the Barents Sea) is represented by 20-22 species of freshwater mollusks, of which 13 have been identified for the first time. The mol-lusk fauna of the island belongs to widespread Palearctic and Holarctic species. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to study t...

Until recently, cold-water species were believed to have appeared in Europe during the Quaternary glaciations. However, ample molecular genetic and zoogeographic data obtained in recent years allow us to state confidently that the formation of the cold-water fauna of Europe was a long process with several distinct steps. Species whose ancestors mig...

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 poor...

We identified 14 emerging and poorly understood threats and opportunities for addressing the global conservation of freshwater mussels over the next decade. A panel of 17 researchers and stakeholders from six continents submitted a total of 56 topics that were ranked and prioritized using a consensus-building Delphi technique. Our 14 priority topic...

The proliferation of genomic sequencing approaches has significantly impacted the field of phylogenetics. Target capture approaches provide a cost-effective, fast, and easily applied strategy for phylogenetic inference of non-model organisms. However, many existing pipelines used to create phylogenomic datasets from target capture data are incapabl...

The proliferation of genomic sequencing approaches has significantly impacted the field of phylogenetics. Target capture approaches provide a cost-effective, fast, and easily applied strategy for phylogenetic inference of non-model organisms. However, many existing pipelines used to create phylogenomic datasets from target capture data are incapabl...

Freshwater mussels are an endangered group of animals, especially in the water bodies of Central and Western Europe. Conservation priorities were established for many endangered freshwater mussel species in the last decade. Here, we present new data on a cryptic refugium of freshwater mussels in the Western Balkans. Two species, Anodonta exulcerata...

Currently, the validity of many nominal bivalve species of the genus Corbicula endemic to the Russian Far East and South Korea needs a critical reassessment. In this study, we clarify the taxonomic status of Corbicula species of this area based on a combination of molecular genetic, conchological and anatomical data. According to our results, four...

Currently, the hawk moth fauna (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) of Zanzibar (Unguja) Island (Tanzania) is poorly known. The body of available literature contains records of eight species only. In this study, we present the checklist of 21 hawk moth species from Zanzibar, 13 of which are recorded for the first time.

In this study, we describe Laothoe amurensis zolotuhini Spitsyn, Bolotov & Spitsyna ssp. nov. from Kunashir Island. The range of this subspecies expands through South Kuriles and Japan. The new subspecies differs from the nominate one by having a strongly toothed outer margin of the wings. The uncorrected COI p-distance between L. amurensis zolotuh...

Here we describe a new subgenus and three new species of parasitic water mites in the genus Unionicola (Acari: Hydrachnidia) from Myanmar: Myanmaratax subgen. nov., Unionicola (Myanmaratax) savadiensis subgen. and sp. nov. (hosts: Lamellidens savadiensis and L. generosus), U. (My.) generosa sp. nov. (the same hosts), and U. (My.) trapezidens sp. no...

In this correspondence, we show for the first time that mayflies, chironomids, and fishes can use the Corbicula clams as host for their larval development. These examples were collected within the native range of Corbicula in East and Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, and South Korea). Supplementary information is available on figshare: https://doi.o...

In this study, we describe Tagoropsis sabulosa zanzibarica Spitsyn & Bolotov ssp. nov. from Zanzibar (Unguja) Island. The new subspecies differs from the nominate one by having a yellow wing coloration and a contrast postmedial line on the forewing. The male of the new subspecies does not have marginal spots on the hindwing.

This article presents the first report on the fauna of Aganainae (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) from Zanzibar, Tanzania. Totally, three species were recorded from the island, including Phaegorista bisignibasis Prout, 1918, a rare species, which was described on the basis of the female holotype from Tanga in northeastern Tanzania. Furthermore, we describe...

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 reexamined , phylogeographic data analysed, putative scenarios explaining the origin of the bumble bee fauna on the island disc...

A new species Unionicola (Dimockatax stat. rev.) haungthayawensis sp. nov. (Trombidiformes: Unionicolidae) from the freshwater mussel Lamellidens generosus (Gould, 1847) in Myanmar Abstract Unionicola (Dimockatax stat. rev.) haungthayawensis sp. nov. is described from the freshwater mussel Lamellidens generosus (Gould, 1847) (Bivalvia: Unionidae)....

Based on a global two-locus phylogeny of the glossiphoniid leeches (COI and 18S rRNA gene fragments), we show that the genus Placobdelloides Sawyer, 1986 (Hirudinea: Glossiphoniidae) is a paraphyletic assemblage. Based on this evidence, we introduce a new genus, Orientobdelloides gen. nov., for a small group of freshwater turtle-associated leeches...

Freshwater leeches are a diverse group of annelid worms, some of which may serve as endosymbionts of various freshwater invertebrates, being commensals and parasites. However, the nature of such hidden associations is poorly understood. Here, we describe the first record of a freshwater leech – sponge association ever discovered. A small fragment o...