1. In 2023, research was carried out on the possibility of using cephalopod beaks to determine their age, population affiliation, diet type, and taxonomic and trophic relationships. The fundamental aspects of the problem were investigated in the study "The significance of cephalopod beaks as a research tool: An update." The development of the applied line of work made it possible to carry out an initial verification of a method for age determination in the common cuttlefish using its beaks. The method developed will make it possible to age mollusks for which traditionally applied approaches have proven inadequate (including squid and octopuses of the Russian Far East).
References: Xavier José C. et al. The significance of cephalopod beaks as a research tool: An update //Frontiers in Physiology. – 2022. – Т. 13. – С. 1038064; Airam Guerra-Marrero, at al. 2023
2. The species composition, species richness, and density of ectosymbionts were studied on coral colonies grown in a nursery and on colonies living in the same location under natural conditions. It was established that a rich community of symbionts, comprising 25 species, including 9 obligate and 16 facultative, had formed on the nursery-grown colonies. The occurrence frequency, species richness, and density of communities associated with natural colonies were significantly higher than those associated with nursery-grown colonies. Differences between the communities associated with grown and natural colonies may be related to biotopic differences: symbiotic communities on grown colonies were elevated above the substrate, whereas natural colonies were attached to it. Moreover, at the same size, the age of natural colonies was more than three times that of grown colonies, which reinforces the differences in the structure of the symbiotic communities. Our study showed that coral nurseries serve not only for coral propagation but also create an artificial habitat for maintaining and conserving the fauna associated with them. These results are promising for the conservation and restoration of coral reefs.
Britayev T.A., Zvonareva S.S., Lishchenko F.V., Deart Y.V., 2023. Symbiotic communities associated with nursery-reared and natural corals: are they similar? // Frontiers in Marine Science. V. 10. P. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1221922; Britayev, T.A.; Petrochenko, R.A.; Burmistrova, Y.A.; Nguyen, T.H.; Lishchenko, F.V. Density and Bleaching of Corals and Their Relationship to the Coral Symbiotic Community // Diversity. – 2023. – Т. 15. – №. 3. – С. 456.
3. A body plan unique among Bilateria, featuring a branching body with a single head and multiple "tail" body sections, was found in three species of endosymbiotic polychaetes (Annelida) (Aguado et al., 2015, 2022). Many species of crinoids, brittle stars, and holothurians have a dendromorphically branched body with numerous distal ends of arms, rays, and tentacles, incorporating the axial ambulacral complex. Bifurcations of the distal body parts are interpreted as resulting from the multiplication of growth zones localized at the posterior ends of the ambulacral rays. The branching, fractal organization of the axial body pattern represents a macroevolutionary transformation of the ancestral Bilateria body plan, made even more nontrivial for bilaterians by its combination with the pentameral symmetry of echinoderms
Isaeva, 2023; Исаева В.В. Метаморфозы плана строения билатерий. // Геном и план строения. Серия «Гео-биологические системы в прошлом». М.: ПИН РАН, 2023. С. 38–65. http://www.paleo.ru/institute/publications/
4. Mollusks of the family Ovulidae are specialized caenogastropods that lead a symbiotic lifestyle mainly on corals. Their shells are often covered by a mantle that provides camouflage, or display warning coloration. Some species specialize on a single coral species (monoxenous), while others use a wide range of hosts (polyxenous). The evolution of symbiosis and diversification of Ovulidae were studied using genetic markers (COI, 16S, 28S) and barcoding of host corals. Phylogenetic trees showed that 8 of the 36 genera were non-monophyletic. The dated tree indicated the origin of Ovulidae 47-63 million years ago, with diversification of the main lineages between 17 and 41 million years ago. BAMM analysis revealed a gradual decline in diversification rates, associated with the saturation of ecological niches. Ancestral state reconstruction showed that Ovulidae were originally associated with hexacorals, but shifted to living on octocorals around 32-48 million years ago.
Secondary shifts to new hosts occurred in some subfamilies, such as Pediculariinae and Ovulinae. Phenacovolva rosea shows high morphological and genetic variability associated with adaptation to different corals. The shape of the mollusk's shell varies by region, which may be related to predation pressure and hydrological conditions that differ markedly between northern and southern Vietnam. Shell shape was assessed using geometric morphometric methods. The color of the mollusk's mantle in most cases matches that of the host corals, which is likely provided by a mechanism of alimentary homochromy. However, on some corals the mollusk is better camouflaged, while on the coral Menella sp. it stands out considerably, which may be related to the limits of phenotypic plasticity or a recent host switch. The genetic diversity of P. rosea, assessed using a COI-gene haplotype network, is significantly higher than in related species, which may reflect broad ecological plasticity.
5. The coexistence of taxonomically related hosts often leads to their being colonized by the same symbiont species. To test this rule, we examined the symbiont fauna of two related species of venomous sea urchins, hypothesizing that, being related and toxic, they would share symbionts distinct from those of other sea urchin species. It turned out that each urchin species has its own symbionts. Moreover, one of the urchins was colonized by species shared with sea urchins from unrelated taxa, while the other harbored species-specific symbionts. We showed that the taxonomic closeness of hosts does not always determine the similarity of their symbiont fauna. The distinctiveness of the fauna of one of the species is due to its morphological feature — a dense canopy of pedicellariae protecting the surface of the urchin's body and its symbionts.
For the first time, a phylogenetic hypothesis for the venomous marine gastropod family Turridae (Neogastropoda, Conoidea) was constructed using an exon-capture method (up to 4178 loci). The exon-capture-based tree included 110 taxa representing all independent phylogenetic lineages. The corresponding taxa were selected based on analysis of more than 3000 cox-1 marker sequences, corresponding to 201 primary species hypotheses. As a result, it was shown that the family Turridae comprises 24 genera, 11 of which are new to science. A taxonomic revision of the family was carried out and 11 new genera were described. Fedosov A.E., Zaharias P., Lemarcis T., Modica M. V., Holford M., Oliverio M., Kantor Yu.I., Puillandre N. 2024. Phylogenomics of Neogastropoda: the backbone hidden in the bush. Systematic Biology. Vol. 73, № 3. P. 521–531; Kantor Yu.I., Bouchet Ph., Fedosov A.E., Puillandre N., Zaharias P. 2024. Generic revision of Recent Turridae (Conoidea). Journal of Molluscan Studies, 90(5): eyae032
In 2024, laboratory staff co-authored and published 2 monographs.
1. Новичкова А.А., Т. А. Бритаев, П. Ю. Дгебуадзе, Т. И. Антохина, С. С. Звонарева, Е. С. Мехова, Н. В. Чернова. 2024. Живая природа острова Врангеля: обитатели водной среды. СПб. : Астерион, 2024. – 272 с. ISBN 978-5-00045-706-1 (Живая природа острова Врангеля), ISBN 978-5-00188-423-1 (Обитатели водной среды), 300 экз., 70х100/16, 22,1 печатных листа.
The presented book is the third in the series "Living Nature of Wrangel Island." This popular-science publication is the first to systematize information on the main inhabitants of the aquatic environment, both freshwater and marine. Representatives of these taxonomic groups inhabit the freshwater bodies and watercourses of the Wrangel Island Nature Reserve, and also live permanently or occur periodically in its marine waters. For each species, photographs are provided along with a brief description of its appearance and information on its habitats and distribution, including in the waters of Wrangel Island.
The book is intended for a wide readership.
2. Pierce, G.J., Ivaylova, S., Matos, F.L., Monteiro, S.S., Roumbedakis, K., Lourenço, S. and Lishchenko, F., 2024. Eledone cirrhosa, horned octopus. In Octopus Biology and Ecology (pp. 311-357). Academic Press. ISBN: 9780128208946 E-book 400 страниц DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-820639-3.00021-2