Andracantha tunitae (Acanthocephala) in the shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) from Shetland, Scotland

Following the wreck of the oil tanker Braer on the coast of Shetland, Scotland, in January 1993, many shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) were killed. Sixty-nine per cent of these birds were found to harbor a sexually mature acanthocephalan (5 +/- 4.3 [SE] worms per infected bird) in their small intestines. The acanthocephalan has been identified as Andracantha tunitae (= Corynosoma tunitae) on the basis of its characteristic fields of trunk spines and their distribution in the region of the genital aperture.