OGMOGASTER-ANTARCTICUS JOHNSTON, 1931 (DIGENEA, NOTOCOTYLIDAE) IN BALAENOPTERA-PHYSALUS (L) - FIRST RECORD IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

Detailed parasitological investigations were carried out on the stomac h and the intestine of a young male Balaenoptera physalus found strand ed along the east coast of the northern Tyrrhenian Sea. Thousands of d igeneans were found in both the caecum and the colon. Morphological an d morphometric studies were carried out on these parasites, which were identified as Ogmogaster antarcticus Johnston, 1931. In contrast to t he other species of the genus, O. antarcticus has a large geographical distribution and it is not specific to its definitive hosts. This is the first record of O. antarcticus from B. physalus in the Mediterrane an Sea, a finding which helps confirm the world-wide distribution of t his parasite.