Identification of the tapeworm (Anoplocephalidae) in Faroese mountain hares ( ).

The mountain hares ( L., 1758) in the Faroe Islands, an archipelago located in the North Atlantic, are known to be commonly infected by tapeworms, the identity of which was unknown. The mountain hare, which now populates 15 of the 18 islands, was introduced from Norway in 1855. In this study, tapeworms collected from four mountain hares from four geographic areas of the Faroe Islands were subjected to molecular identification using the nuclear ribosomal DNA (28S), the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 () and the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 () genes. The results indicate unambiguously that the tapeworms were (Goeze, 1782) (Cestoda: Anoplocephalidae ). The phylogenetic position and origin of the Faroese are discussed. Given that the parasite is quite common in Norway, from where the mountain hares were introduced, it is conceivable that co-introduction of from Norway to the Faroe Islands took place. The phylogenetic analyses revealed high similarity of the sequences from three regions and the position of the Faroese isolate as the sister lineage of the isolates from Finland and East Siberia.