title: Trematode diversity in freshwater fishes of the Globe I: 'Old World'.
abstract: In this paper, we review, continent by continent, the trematode fauna of freshwater fishes of the 'Old World', a vast area consisting of the Palaearctic, Ethiopian, Oriental and Australasian zoogeographical regions. Knowledge of this fauna is highly uneven and clearly incomplete for almost all regions, sometimes dramatically so. Although the biggest problem remains the completion of the 'first pass' of alpha taxonomy, there are in addition great problems relating to biogeography and elucidation of life-cycles. For the latter, molecular data, i.e. matching DNA sequences of larval stages and corresponding adults, may represent a powerful tool that should be used in future studies. Another challenging problem represents the existence of cryptic species and, in particular, considerable decrease of experts in taxonomy and life-cycles of trematodes.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic. tscholz@paru.cas.cz.
authors.forename: Tomáš
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia.
authors.forename: Vladimir V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Besprozvannykh
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Natural Resources Use, Far Eastern State Technical Fisheries University, Lugovaya 52b, Vladivostok, Russia, 690087.
authors.forename: Tamara E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Boutorina
authors.affiliation: Division of Natural Sciences, St. Norbert College, De Pere, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Anindo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Choudhury
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Cribb
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia.
authors.forename: Alexey V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Ermolenko
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Faltýnková
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia.
authors.forename: Marina B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Shedko
authors.affiliation: , 10486-2 Hotaka-Ariake, Azumino, Nagano, 399-8301, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimazu
authors.affiliation: Water Research Group (Parasitology), Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, Potchefstroom Campus, North-West University, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa.
authors.forename: Nico J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Smit
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D000818:Animals; D001208:Asia; D044362:Australasia; D044822:Biodiversity; D002965:Classification; D005060:Europe; D005399:Fishes / Q000469:parasitology*; D005618:Fresh Water; D005821:Genetic Techniques / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D007814:Larva; D014200:Trematoda / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology