The paper presents the first record of the Ponto-Caspian amphipod crustacean Pontogammarus robustoides G.O. Sars, 1894, in the Gulf of Riga, Baltic Sea. Eight individuals of this invasive amphipod were found in June 2009, in shallow waters of the gulf near Yurmala city. Most likely this species entered the Gulf of Riga from Latvian rivers emptying into the Baltic Sea, where it was previously fo...

Esophageal cancer is one of the ten most common malignancies worldwide (Parkin et al., 1999). The Kashmir region because of its geographical location is a part of the so called “Asian Esophageal Cancer Belt” (Deshpande et al., 2000), which extends from the northern provinces of China in the east to the southern shores of Caspian Sea in the west. It is one of the most common malignancies seen in...

Genetic diversity is a key component of ecosystems. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the genetic diversity of Iranian native honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera meda L.) located in the northern region. Colonies from 24 locations have been analyzed using microsatellite markers. Samples were collected from Caspian Sea southern area (north of Iran). Six microsatellite markers (A28, A29, ...

A new species of algae-scraping cyprinid of the genus Capoeta Valenciennes, 1842 is described from the Kheyroud River, located in the southern part of the Caspian Sea basin in Iran. The species differs from other members of this genus by a combination of the following characters: one pair of barbels; predorsal length equal to postdorsal length; maxillary barbel slightly smaller than eye's horiz...

Kutum is considered as one of the anadramous species of the Caspian Sea. Due to continuous population decline of the fish since 1975, Iranian fisheries organization started to restock this species. Nowadays, there is growing concern over the effects of restocking on natural populations. For this purpose, population structure and genetic variation of this species in the Iranian coastline of Casp...

marine environment of the caspian sea, due to extensive human exploitation and discharge of large magnitudes of urban, industrial and agricultural waste, is under extensive pressure and human wastes threaten marine life and ecosystem of the sea. therefore, there is a substantial need for a good understanding of physical and chemical characteristics of the caspian waters. however, the data avail...

Caspian Sea with an average depth of 27m is the largest enclosed water body in the world. Despite its enormity and valuable biotic and economic resources, investigations on the biota and seawater properties are mosaic at best. In previous studies, the monitoring of the chlorophyll-a concentrations in the Southern Caspian Sea was organized based on satellite data sets however, vertical dis...

Abstract This article studies the discoid Didacna sp. shell beads discovered at Kaylu, a Middle Holocene burial site located in Southern Turkmenistan. Microscopic, morphometric, spectrometric, and SEM analyses were carried out on material to identify how manufactured used. New radiocarbon dating bioanthropological data age sex two skeletons burials are provided. A regional synthesis shows that ...