A new record of Cetopirus complanatus (Cirripedia: Coronulidae), an epibiont of right whales (Cetacea: Balaenidae: Eubalaena spp.), from Mediterranean Spain

An isolated right lateral compartment belonging to the rare extant whale barnacle species Cetopirus complanatus (a symbiotic organism found on the skin of the right whales, Eubalaena spp.) was collected from Recent beach deposits at Benidorm (Mediterranean Spain). Here we describe this specimen and...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bosselaers M., van Nieulande F., Collareta A.
Other Authors: Bosselaers, M., van Nieulande, F., Collareta, A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
invertebrate palaeontology
palaeobiogeography
symbiosys
whale barnacle
host specificity
migrations
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11568/958824
https://doi.org/10.2424/ASTSN.M.2017.17
Description
Summary:An isolated right lateral compartment belonging to the rare extant whale barnacle species Cetopirus complanatus (a symbiotic organism found on the skin of the right whales, Eubalaena spp.) was collected from Recent beach deposits at Benidorm (Mediterranean Spain). Here we describe this specimen and briefly discuss its (palaeo-)biogeographical significance. Since no species of Eubalaena is currently present in the Mediterranean, the site of our finding stands outside the current biogeographic range of C. complanatus. As such, it contributes to shed light on past distribution patterns of North Atlantic right whales prior to the almost complete extirpation of Eubalaena due to centuries of heavy whaling activities by various European populations.

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