Neobenedenia melleni (MacCallum, 1927) is a widely spread pathogen in teleost maricultures with a very low host specificity. Between July of 2006 to June of 2007, 120 specimens of Trichiurus lepturus Linnaeus, 1758 were acquired of local fishermen in the Guanabara Bay (22º 57' S and 42º 41' W), State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to the study of the parasite fauna. The surface of the host body was scraped and the monogeneans obtained were identified as N. melleni, which showed prevalence of 8.3% and mean intensity of infection 1.2 ± 0.42. Data about morphology of the specimens collected were included herein. Neobenedenia melleni is recorded by the first time parasitizing on a wild host from the Brazilian coastal zone.
Neobenedenia melleni; Trichiurus lepturus; monogeneans; Brazil