The predatory cladoceran Cercopagis pengoi has extended its range over the past decade from the Ponto-Caspian basin into the Baltic Sea and the Laurentian Great Lakes. This study employs mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence analysis to elucidate the invasion corridors exploited during this range expansion. The Caspian and Black Sea populations of C. pengoi exhibit marked genetic divergence, enabl...

1.1 Caspian Sea The complex history of the Caspian Sea formation has lead to a variety of different habitats. Like Australia, the Caspian Sea became isolated thousands of years ago (Plate 1). This isolation led to the speciation of many rare animals in particular the sturgeon. The Caspian Sea is the biggest enclosed body of water on Earth, having an even larger area than that of the American Gr...

The North American Great Lakes have been invaded and dramatically altered by more than 145 alien species. Many invasions have occurred during the past few decades because of the release of Eurasian ballast water from transoceanic ships. Current regulations require ships to exchange foreign ballast with highly saline water before entering the Great Lakes; this procedure should prevent colonizati...

following the collapse of the soviet :union: and the discovery of gas and oil in central asia and caucasia, it faced complex interests in the international political economy. these problems were mainly rooted in developing plans of the countries for increasing their influence in the area and also in russia's connections with the iranian and turkish governments in the region. this paper inv...

More than 10,000 Caspian seals (Phoca caspica) were reported dead in the Caspian Sea during spring and summer 2000. We performed necropsies and extensive laboratory analyses on 18 seals, as well as examination of the pattern of strandings and variation in weather in recent years, to identify the cause of mortality and potential contributory factors. The monthly stranding rate in 2000 was up to ...

The Caspian Sea is a region of active hydrocarbon production, where apart from conventional accumulations, gas hydrates (GH) are known to exist. GH potential future source energy, however, currently they pose danger for development fields. goal this research was determine the area distribution and thickness their stability zone in using numerical modeling define how certain parameters affect ca...

based on molecular and morphological characters. – Hydro-biologia 544: 89–141. (Crustacea, Mysida): history of continental invasions inferred from molecular and morphological data. – Cladistics 21: 575–596. IV Audzijonytė, A. & Väinölä, R. 2005: Phylogeographic analyses of a circum-arctic coastal and of a boreal lacustrine mysid crustacean, and evidence of fast post-glacial mtDNA rates. – (subm...