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Barnacle adults are sessile; most are suspension feeders with hard calcareous shells, but the Rhizocephala are specialized parasites of other crustaceans, with reduced bodies. Barnacles have existed since at least the mid-Carboniferous, some 325 million years ago. In folklore, barnacle geese were once held to emerge fully formed from goose ...
The barnacle creates a crown-shaped shell, and in most instances, deeply embeds itself into the skin for stability while riding a fast-moving host. The shell plates are made of calcium carbonate and chitin. Whale barnacles may live for up to a year, and often slough off along migration routes or at whale calving grounds.
"The goose-tree" from Gerard's Herbal (1597), displaying the belief that goose barnacles produced barnacle geese.. In the days before birds were known to migrate, barnacle geese, Branta leucopsis, were thought to have developed from this crustacean through spontaneous generation, since they were never seen to nest in temperate Europe, [4] hence the English names "goose barnacle" and "barnacle ...
Barnacles, a highly modified crustacean, use their antennae to attach to rocks and other surfaces. [2] The second antennae in the burrowing Hippoidea and Corystidae have setae that interlock to form a tube or "snorkel" which funnels filtered water over the gills.
With some species of whale louse, whale barnacle infestations play an important role. On the right whale, the parasites live mainly on callosities (raised callus-like patches of skin on the whales' heads). The clusters of white lice contrast with the dark skin of the whale, and help researchers identify individual whales because of the lice ...
Like other acorn barnacles, S. cariosus is a filter feeder; when it is under water, the moveable terga at the apex part, and the cirri are extended to feed. When above water, the terga shut tightly for protection and to prevent desiccation. Small barnacles are sometimes "bulldozed" off the rock by the limpet Lottia digitalis while it is grazing ...
This acorn barnacle is a moderate-sized one with a diameter of up to 22 mm (0.9 in). [1] The shell is formed by overlapping plates and has a calcareous basis. It has more the shape of a cylinder than the shape of a cone. The white operculum has heavily ridged walls. [1] It can live up to ten years. [1]
Austromegabalanus psittacus, the giant barnacle or picoroco as it is known in Spanish, is a species of large barnacle native to the coasts of southern Peru, all of Chile and southern Argentina. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] It inhabits the littoral and intertidal zones of rocky shores and normally grows up to 30 centimetres (12 in) tall with a mineralized shell ...