Abstract
A female spirurid nematode was obtained from the serosal surface of the gizzard in a male collared scops-owl, Otus bakkamoena from Mikata, Fukui Prefecture, Japan, and classified as Geopetitia sp., mainly based on the characteristic shape of its posterior body. This is the first report on this genus of nematode in Japan as well as from birds in Strigiformes in any region in the world. This case is attributable to predation of an insect intermediate host or ingestion of a migrating immature worm with a small avian paratenic host. The present case may indicate the need to devote attention to the worms of this genus in the zoos in Japan, because of the probability of epizootic infections and severe pathogenicity among many species of rearing birds.
