Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1991, Page 59

A note on the occurrence of land planarians
in the Faroe Islands
Dorete Bloch
Introduction
Faunistic studies have been carried out in a
number of different environments in the
Faroe Islands over two different periods. The
first was a thorough faunistic examination,
with samples taken from marine, freshwater
and terrestrial habitats. These studies were
published over the period from 1928 to 1971
in Zoology of the Faroes, in which the ma-
rine and freshwater planarians were treated
by Steinbóck in 1929-30. The second study
period was from 1978 to 1981, when a team
from the universities of Bergen (Norway)
and Lund (Sweden), in cooperation with the
Faroese Museum of Natural History, sam-
pled terrestrial animals for ecological
studies. These examinations were published
in a series entitled »Terrestrial Invertebrates
of the Faroe Islands«, the main bulk of data
appearing from 1979-1983 in Fauna norv.
Ser. A and Ser. B.
No land planarians were discovered in the
first study, but during the second study,
Rhynchodemus terrestris (Miiller) was
recorded and sampled on Suðuroy in 1978
(Bengtson, 1982). More recently, the species
Artioposthia triangulata Fyfe was found,
and so it is now considered worthwhile to
publish the Faroese occurrences of these
animals and in that connection suggest a
possible immigration route.
Faroese records
In the summer of 1987, the Museum received
a dried specimen of a land planarian about
10 cm long. Later in 1987 more specimens
were found, all in bad condition and not
suitable for preservation, but identified as
probably belonging to the species Ar-
tioposthia triangulata. They were all sam-
pled on the outskirts of the capital, Tórshavn
(Fig. 1) in connection with potato planting.
On May 5, 1990 the Museum received 6
specimens as well as 2 egg capsules which
were sampled in the village of Kvívík, on the
main island, Streymoy, about 30 km north-
west of Tórshavn (Fig. 1). These specimens
were well preserved in 70% alcohol and easi-
ly identifiable as Artioposthia triangulata.
Their size varied from 5 to 12 cm in length
and they were of a light chocolate grey
brown colour (Fig. 2). The planarians were
sampled in connection with planting pota-
toes, where more than a hundred specimens
Fróðskaparrit 38.-39. bók (1989-90): 63-68