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 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.