Gastro-intestinal helminths community of italian hare (Lepus corsicanus): first report.

AIM OF THE STUDY: Italian hare (Lepus corsicanus – De Winton, 1898) was rediscovered by means of morphological and molecular analysis since 1996.Up to date, nobody has studied the helmints of this endemic italian Mammal, for this reason we decided to perform this feat and to look for the similarity and differences with the European hare parasites. MATERIALS & METHODS: The helminths of the gastro-intestinal tract of 30 Italian hare were isolated and identified according to the standard parasitological techniques. The animals were collected between 1997 and 2008 from their whole living area, in Italy. Simpson diversity index for concentration of dominance, inversely related to the diversity of communities, was calculated; this index measures the “equitability” component of the community diversity, independently from species richness. Helminth species were classified, according to the importance value I (Thul JE et al., 1985, Proc Helminthol Soc Wash, 52: 297-310), as dominant (I>1), codominant (1>=I>0.01) and subordinate (I>=0.01). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Five parasite species were identified: three nematodes and two cestodes. The frequency distribution of all parasite species in the host population was aggregated. There wasn’t differences related to origin sex and age of the animals. In so far as it was possible a comparison with the available data about European hare parasite communities was carried out. Italian hare helminth community appears not less structured than the European hare one. However, some qualitative and quantitative differences came out. These first results will be confirmed with the analysis of a larger animal sample, possibly collected in a shorter period. We hope it, in spite of the difficulties in finding dead individuals of this species considered endangered across its italian range.