The results of a year's survey on the parasitic infestation of the gastrointestinal tract of three species of benthic fish, namelySerranus scriba, Mullus surmuletus, andScorpaena porcus, living in a restricted coastal seaground in the N/W sector of the Gulf of Palermo, are reported and critically discussed. Fish populations were sampled monthly by means of a trammel net, according to the local fishing usage. As many as nine helminth species, five of them trematodes and four nematodes, were collected from the gastrointestinal tract of 625 individuals. Infestation was most intense inM. surmuletus, with a peak in the spring.S. scribawas especially parasitized during the spring and summer, whereasS. porcusshowed no appreciable variations over the year, but only a slight increase in the spring. A positive relation of the degree of infestation to feeding habits, and especially to crustacean prey, was demonstrated.M. surmuletusandS. scribaare very likely final hosts ofH. fabri, whereasS. porcusis merely an intermediate one.