The polar bear Ursus maritimus is a circumpolar species classified as vulnerable and included in the IUCN Red List. It is considered to be practically free of helminth parasites with the only species reported being Trichinella spiralis s. l. Samples of feces were collected on Chukotka coast, Wrangel Island and on ice floes in the Kara, Laptev and Chukchi seas in 2013-2015 in different seasons of the year. Coprological diagnostics was carried out using the standard flotation and sedimentation methods. In the samples collected in the snow-free period, a single sample (3.7%) was found to contain eggs of the nematode Toxascaris sp. In three out of 9 samples collected in the winter, eggs of a cestode Diphyllobothrium sp., of unidentified trematodes (presumably Heterophyidae) and of the strongylid nematode Uncinaria stenocephala were found as well as the first stage nematode larvae tentatively identified as Crenosoma sp. Viable Trichinella nativa larvae were recovered from the muscles of a female animal from north of Yakutia.
ABSTRAcr: Staining techniques are relatively rare in the study of parasitic nematodes. A novel siIver-staining method is described for elucidation of the synlophe (a system of longitudinal cuticular ridges), a character of great systematic importance among the trichostrongyloid nematodes. Ridges are stained opticaIly black and appear in great contrast to the body of the nematode. This method augments current use ofinterference contrast for examination of the synlophe. Detailed studies of the configuration of the synlophe in entire specimens are possible with standard light microscopy for the first time.
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