Content uploaded by Uzlipat Adilmirzaevna Gichikhanova
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Uzlipat Adilmirzaevna Gichikhanova on Aug 07, 2023
Content may be subject to copyright.
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 115
individuals averaged 37.5 mm (range 36-39 mm). The nest laid
on 30 June 2022 was not excavated until well after the beginning
of emergence (24 November 2022), thus, we cann ot be sure of
the total number of eggs laid but it probably contained seven
eggs. One individual successfully hatched and emerged on 28
August 2022 and another on 29 August 2022 with a M CL of 31.5
mm and 31 mm respectively. Park staff examined the nest on
21 Sep tem ber 2022 and found two live h atchlings partially out
of their shells, one intact egg, and some shell fragments inside
the nest. We found an additional two partially hatched deceased
hatc hlin gs on 24 Novem ber 2022.
Fun ding for this research was provided by Parks Can ada
and Lakehead University. Fieldwork was carried out under
approved animal care protocols (PC 48103, LU 1468790) and a
Parks Canad a Research and Collection Permit (PP-2022-41339).
We thank Point Pelee Na tional Park staff including Tarra Degazio,
Rachel Windsor, Andrew Laforet, and Kaylie Briggs-Crawford
for their help. We also thank Loop Fisheries for providing bait
throughout the project.
IAN E. WICK (e-mail: iewick@lakeheadu.ca), CONSTANCE L.
BROWNE, (e-mail: c.browne@unb.ca), STEPHEN J. HECNAR (e-mail: shec-
nar@lakeheadu.ca), TAYLOR R. HAMEL (e-mail: taylorhamel63@outlook.
com), and SALEM E. MCLEAN, Department of Biology, Lakehead Univer
sity, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 6H9, Canada (e-mail: sem-
clea1@lakeheadu.ca).
EM YS O RB ICU LA R IS (European Pond Turtle). PARASITES. The
range o f Emys orbicula ris is extensive and includes southern,
eastern, and central Europe, the C aucasus, Central Asia to west
ern Turkmenistan, western Kazakhstan, and northwest Africa.
Placobdella costata is the only Palearctic leech that feeds on the
blood of reptiles, particularly E. orbicularis. This leech prefers
eutrophic wetlands, irrigation canals, and banks o f slow-m ov
ing rivers, under water and within aquatic vegetation (Darabi-
Darestani et al. 2016. Zoo taxa 4170:41-70). Pla cobdella costata
was first noted as a parasite of E. orbicularis by Neubert and Ne-
semann (1999. Annelid a, Clitellata: Branchiobdellida, A canthob-
dellea, Hirudinea. Sdftwasserfauna von Mitteleu ropa - Band 6/2.
Spektrum Akadem ischer, Heidelbarg, Germany. 178 pp.), and
later this parasite was noted by other authors (Vamberger and
Trontelj 2007. Natura Sloveniae 9:37-42; Ayres and Alvarez 2008.
Acta Biol. Univ. Daugavp. 8:53-55; Bielecki et al. 2012. Biologia
67:731-738; Fediras et al. 2017. Herpetol. Notes 10:3-8). In some
Fig . 1. Placobdella costata on the supracaudal and marginal scutes of
the carapace Emys orbicularis in southern Agrakhan.
Fig . 2. Dorsal and ventral view of Placobdella costata.
parts of its range, P costata infects E. trinacris, Mau remy s lepro-
sa, and M. caspica (Arizza et al. 2016. Folia Parasitologica 63:1-6;
Bashirichelkasari and Yad olla hvandm iandoab 2017. J. Aqu at.
Res. Dev. 8:506; Laghzaoui et al. 2020. Parasitol. Res. 119:3459
3467). In the territory of Russia, P costata was previously noted
on E. o rbicula ris only in the Tver Region in 2021 (
www.inatural-
ist.org/observations/116745752, 17 Sept 2022).
On Jun e 2, 2022, we found three specimens of this leech
species on an E. orbicularis in the vicin ity of southern Agrakhan,
Russia (Babayurtovsky District, 3.5 km south of the village
of Novaya Kosa: 43.51926°N, 47.37971°E; Fig. 1). The largest
specimen had a length of 38 mm, and the smallest 33 m m.
The body o f P. costata is flat and long with a brown colo ration.
The dorsal surface is convex with n ume rous papillae and has
six longitudinal rows of yellow spots. The eyes are located on
segm ent III. The mouth opening is located at the anterior edge
of the oral sucker (Fig. 2). All leeches were found at the junction
of the supracaudal and marginal scutes of the carapace.
UZLIPAT A. GICHIKHANO VA, Department of Zoology and Physiol
ogy, Dagestan State University, The Republic of Dagestan, Makhachkala,
367000, Batyraya Street 4, Russia and Department of Herpetology, Zoo
logical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg 199034 Uni-
versitetskaya nab.,1 (e-mail: uzlipat92@mail.ru); E VGENIY A. DUNAYEV,
Zoological Museum of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow,
103009, st. B. Nikitskaya, 6, Russia (e-mail: dunayeve@mail.ru); LYUDMILA
F. MAZANAEVA, Department of Zoology and Physiology, Dagestan State
University, The Republic of Dagestan, Makhachkala, 367000, Batyraya
Street 4, Russia (e-mail: mazanaev@mail.ru).
GOP HE RUS B ERLA ND IER I (Texas Tortoise). MORTALITY.
Gopheru s berlandie ri (hereafter, Texas Tortoise) is listed as a
threatened species in Texas (Judd and Rose 2000. Occas. Papers
Her petologica l Rev ie w 54(1), 20 23