The conservation ecology of the Podonidae from the Caspian and Aral seas

Results of five expeditions to the Caspian Sea and 17 expeditions to the Aral Sea from 1976–1993 are presented. In these two large salt lakes, nine species of Podonidae were found, all of which were fairly euryhaline, except Caspievadne maximowitschi. Further, all of them were thermophilic, except Cornigerius bicornis, Caspievadne maximowitschi, and Pleopis polyphemoides. Sexual reproduction of the Podonidae in these two salt lakes appears to be insignificant. The possibility exists that parthenogenetic females of some species can live and reproduce even during the winter in the southern parts of the lakes. The complete disappearance of the Podonidae from the Aral Sea in 1989–1990 and the later reappearance of Podonevadne camptonyx in the north Aral in 1991, demonstrates that today it is possible to rehabilitate and conserve a small part of this lake.This paper is dedicated to the memory of David Frey, who gave the author the idea for this study, and discussed its main conclusions