The fauna of Turkmenistan includes 695 species of
vertebrates (cyclostomes, one; fish, 107; amphibians, five; reptiles, 82; birds, 397; and
mammals, 103). At present, more than 4,000 species of the invertebrates are recorded in
the country: Orthoptera, 179; ants, 197; ground beetles, 430; darkling beetles, 330;
weevils, 490 (all beetles, more than 2000); butterflies, about 1,000; etc. [Table] The great diversity of the vertebrate and invertebrate fauna is
explained by the geographical location of the country on the junction of fauna complexes of various origin and by the combination of modern ecological conditions. The water bodies of Turkmenistan are populated by diverse and unique
ichtyofauna. Many species and subspecies are regional or local endemic; some populations
live on the margins of the natural ranges of species. Considerable part of ichtyofauna is
made up of distant introducers that settled in water bodies as a result of human economic
activities.
Kulan
One of the main regions where sturgeon concentrates, is the
part of the Caspian Sea next to the Turkmen coast. This is the place where fish, which
reproduce and hatch in the various rivers of the Caspian drainage (from the Volga in the
north to the Sekhridruda in the south) fatten and hibernate. The sturgeons do not
currently migrate into the Atrek River (the only Caspian watershed river of the Turkmen
coast), and therefore this fish does not reproduce in Turkmenistan. Among the
vertebrates, 101 species should be protected (mammals, 27; birds, 35; reptiles, 30;
amphibians, one: and fish, 8). All these species are placed in the Red Data Book of
Turkmenistan (2nd Edition, Ashgabat, 1999). One of each seven vertebrate species is
included in the Red Data Book. It is notable that of fish species which were listed in the
Red Data Book of the ex-USSR, three species (or 33%) are found in the Turkmen fauna; the
same figures for the reptiles are 19 species (or 54%); for birds, 32 species (40%); and
for mammals, 24 species (26%). Thus, of 216 species of the vertebrates (without
amphibians) listed in the Red Data Book of the ex-USSR, 78 species are found in
Turkmenistan.
SOURCES OF
INFORMATION
1
The State of Environment of
Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan. Ashgabat, 1999.
