PECULIARITIES OF HELMINTHOCENOSIS IN THE AMERICAN MINK POPULATION INHABITING A SEVERELY POLLUTED RIVER ECOSYSTEM (THE SVISLOCH RIVER, BYELARUS)

A total of 46 mink carcasses were collected at the severely contaminat ed Svisloch river, 66 carcasses were collected from the unpolluted Dri ssa and Lovat rivers and processed by the standard helminthological me thods. Our results are evidence of the considerable changes of helmint hocenoses in conditions of severe contamination of river ecosystems. T he main trends of this process are reduction of helminth species diver sity and increase in infestation by remaining species. Helminth specie s whose life cycles were not affected seriously by the reduction of zo ocenosis of a polluted river ecosystem tend to survive in it. The incr ease of infection of these species is probably connected with the decr ease of host organism resistance against helminths.