| Summary: | The fragmentary fossil history of whale barnacles (Cirripedia: Coronulidae) is mainly constituted by remains of Coronula spp. (currently an endemic phoront of the balaenopterid Megaptera novaeangliae) in Plio-Pleistocene deposits sited along extant humpback whale migration routes, and especially in occurrence of breeding areas. We report the occurrence of a single plate of Cetopirus sp. nov. collected along with various remains of Coronula bifida in lower Pleistocene (upper Gelasian to lower Santernian) shelf deposits of Salento (South Italy). The Cetopirus specimen here studied (MSNUP I16903) was collected from a rocky cliff (known as "Il Fascio") outcropping inside the port of Otranto. The succession there exposed, which belongs to the Plio-Pleistocene Uggiano La Chiesa Formation, shows levels of marlstones alternating with calcarenitic layers. Main fossils are decapod crustacean and ichthyoliths; brachiopods, echinoids, bivalves, gastropods, corals, and turtles have also been recognized. Whale barnacles are known from three marly beds. The fossil here studied was found in the middle marly bed, where a rich assemblage of calcareous nannofossils allowed the dating to the Mediterranean Neogene Nannoplankton Zone MNN19a (1.95 to 1.73 Ma). MSNUP I16903 represents the most ancient occurrence of the genus Cetopirus, and the only one which predates the Late Glacial period. A comparison with the only known species of Cetopirus, the extant C. complanatus, reveals some anatomical differences (e.g., the presence in MSNUP I16903 of a thin radius and a peculiar structure of the transverse loops of the folded walls) which suggest that the Salento specimen belongs to a new fossil species. Cetopirus is currently known as an exclusive phoront of the right whale (Balaenidae: Eubalaena spp.), which inhabits the North Atlantic (as E. glacialis). The fossil distribution of Eubalaena spp. includes the Pliocene-Holocene of the Northeastern Atlantic coast and the Pliocene of Italy. The rich Italian Pliocene record of Balaenidae ...
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