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tel.: +48 56 611-25-05
fax: +48 56 611-47-72
e-mail: dwbios@umk.pl
Zakład Zoologii Bezkręgowców Zakład Zoologii Bezkręgowców Zakład Zoologii Bezkręgowców Zakład Zoologii Bezkręgowców

Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Parasitology

Invertebrates are the most numerous group of Eukaryota, including more than 90% of all contemporary animal species.

They include animal-like protists and animals without the internal axial skeleton. Such a broad criterion makes this group very diverse and exhibit a full range of possible adaptations to the environment. Moreover, they reflect consecutive stages of the development of life on Earth.

Due to their diversity and abundance, invertebrates constitute one of the most important ecosystem components. They can be found at almost all positions of food webs and in all areas of human life and economy. Polinators determine crops in agriculture, pests damage crops, products and technical appliances, parasites constitute an important medical and veterinary problem, hemophages participate in pathogen transmission, seafood organisms, particularly mullusks and crustaceans are used in the kitchen, producers of chitin and nacre are a valuable source of these substances and many species are important environmental indicators.

This picture shows the tremendous role of these organisms on Earth and the great importance of studying their biology.

In the Department of Invertebrate Zoology we work on numerous aspects of invertebrate biology, including: embryology and teratology (Teresa Napiórkowska, Julita Templin), parasitology and host-parasite interactions (Elżbieta Żbikowska, Anna Cichy, Anna Marszewska), adaptations of organisms to the land-water interface (Małgorzata Poznańska-Kakareko, Jarosław Kobak) and biological invasions in aquatic environments (Jarosław Kobak, Łukasz Jermacz, Anna Dzierżyńska-Białończyk).

We specialize in such invertebrate groups as mollusks (Elżbieta Żbikowska, Anna Cichy, Anna Marszewska, Anna Dzierżyńska-Białończyk, Małgorzata Poznańska-Kakareko, Jarosław Kobak), spiders (Teresa Napiórkowska, Julita Templin), crustaceans (Jarosław Kobak, Łukasz Jermacz, Małgorzata Poznańska-Kakareko), oligochaetes and aquatic insects (Małgorzata Poznańska-Kakareko) and digenetic trematodes (Elżbieta Żbikowska, Anna Cichy, Anna Marszewska).

We invite interested readers to look at our webpage. The page Research interests contains more details on the activity of our research teams and their current research topics.