Barnacles | In The Field

We’re in the field examining barnacles, which make up the class Cirripedia. There are over twelve thousand species of barnacles, most of which live intertidally attached to hard substrates. When the tide is out they close their calcareous shell to prevent desiccation, and when the tide comes in they extend their cirri to feed. There are two groups of barnacles the acorn barnacles and the goose barnacles. The most common is the acorn barnacles which can grow in dense concentrations such as the common rock barnacle Semibalanus balanoides. One fascinating thing about barnacles is how they reproduce. They are hermaphroditic with fertilization taking place through a penis that can be up to twenty times the length the barnacle’s body!

Follow us here:
Facebook:   / exploretheabyss  
Instagram:   / explore.the.abyss  
Twitter:   / exploretheabyss  

The Abyss is an educational video series that explores all aspects of the ocean from weird animal facts to basic oceanographic principles. Join us as we dive in


For more information check out the sources used to make this video:

Sept DJ. 2008. A Photographic guide to Seashore Life in the North Atlantic: Canada to Cape Cod. Princeton Univeristy Press. Princeton, New Jersey, USA. pp 112