Review Article Helminth fauna of Talpa spp. in the Palaearctic Realm A. Ribas* and J.C. Casanova Laboratory of Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, Avda Diagonal s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain Abstract The helminth fauna of the genus Talpa in the Palaearctic Realm is reviewed. Several helminth species reported in Talpa spp. by a number of authors are discussed, with reference to host specificity, parasite biology, and host ethology, ecology and phylogeny. Twelve species of cestodes were found, two of which exhibit stenoxenous specificity (Staphylocystis bacillaris and Multitesticulata filamentosa). Only three species of trematodes, Ityogonimus lorum, Ityogonimus ocreatus and Combesia macrobursata, are exclusive parasites of Talpa spp. The largest group are nematodes, with 37 species. Species of Tricholinstowia are parasites of holarctic talpids and several species of distinct genera, such as Capillaria, Soboliphyme and Trichuris, are found only in Talpa spp. Only acanthocephalans of the genus Moniliformis have been reported in moles of the genus Talpa. On the basis of these helminthological findings, the close phylogenetic relationship between moles (Talpidae) and shrews (Soricidae) supports the separation of the ordinal levels Soricomorpha and Erinaceomorpha. Studies on the helminths of Talpa spp. have tradition- ally focused on species description, faunistic data, and the ecology of communities. Talpa spp. are strictly fossorial mammals and are widespread in Eurasia (Stein, 1963). At present, ten species are recognized in this genus: T. caeca, T. europaea, T. occidentalis, T. romana and T. stankovici in Europe and T. altaica, T. caucasica, T. davidiana, T. levantis and T. streetii in central and eastern Asia (Nowak, 1999; Krys ˇtufec et al., 2001). The taxonomic distinction of Talpa spp. was established only recently by means of morpho- metric and allozyme studies in several species. However, the subspecific status of T. europaea europaea, T. e. cinerea and T. e. pancici remain unresolved (Krys ˇtufec et al., 2001). The distribution of moles is not regular. While T. europaea shows a wide distribution in Europe and east through to Russia, the remaining species are restricted to the following areas: Iberian Peninsula (T. occidentalis), Italy (T. romana), Balkans (T. stankovici), south-eastern Bulgaria and northern Turkey (T. levantis), Caucasus (T. caucasica), southern Europe (T. caeca), Kurdistan and Iran (T. streetii), Iran (T. davidiana) and central Siberia and northern Mongolia (T. altaica) (Nowak, 1999; Krys ˇtufec et al., 2001). Although the helminths of several species of Talpa have been examined, the widespread T. europaea has received most attention. The ethology of Talpa, as burrowing mammals occupying subterranean habitats, determines its particular helminth fauna (Prokopic & Grulich, 1976; Andreani & Valle, 1988; Casanova et al., 1996; Shimalov & Shimalov, 2001; Z ˇ asityte ´ & Grikieniene ˙ , 2001; Milazzo et al., 2002; Ribas & Casanova, 2005). The subterranean way of life has lead several mammalian taxa with diverse evolutionary histories to show similar behavioural, ecological and physiological adaptations (Nevo, 1999). The helminth fauna of Talpa spp. in Europe includes species of Trematoda, Cestoda, Nematoda and Acanthocephala (table 1). Digeneans are intestinal para- sites as adults, except the tissue larvae of Alaria alata (mesocercariae) in amphibians as intermediate hosts, *Fax: (34) 93 402 45 04 E-mail: aribas@ub.edu Journal of Helminthology (2006) 80, 1–6 DOI: 10.1079/JOH2005328