[Baikal whitefish Coregonus baicalensis Dybowski, 1874 parasite communities and host age]

Data on the taxonomic diversity of Baikal whitefish parasites are summarized in the study. Significant correlations of some parasite species' relative abundance and parasite communities' (infracommunities and component communities) parameters with host age were found during the study of parasite distribution in the host's age groups in the Baikal whitefish population from Chivyrkui Bay of Lake Baikal. Study of morphobiological and genetic features which have arisen due to long-term geographic isolation allowed confirming the initial specific independence of lake whitefishes of Lake Baikal as Coregonus baicalensis Dybowski, 1874, i.e., the Baikal whitefish (Sukhanova et al., 2000). The main habitats of this Baikal endemic are Barguzin and Chivyrkui bays, Selenga shallow, and Little Sea strait (Pronin et al., 2007). Local populations from these habitats were previously considered to be independent stocks (Krogius, 1933).