Lepas anatifera

Some sea life lives on floating wood.

These small creatures have long, soft stalks. They use these stalks to hang on. They can stick to ships or turtles. They can even stick to seaweed.

Their shells have bright red edges. Inside, they have thin brown parts for eating. These creatures travel far in the sea. They can even reach cold lands like Iceland. It is fun to see where they go!

The pelagic gooseneck barnacle is a small sea creature.

It lives in warm seas all over the world. These barnacles use a long stalk called a peduncle to hang on. The peduncle is tough and purplish-brown. It lets the barnacle stick to floating wood or ships. They can even stick to sea turtles. Some were even found on a crocodile in Mexico!

The main body is called a capitulum. It has five smooth plates. These plates have bright red edges. Inside the shell, the barnacle has a head and a thorax. It also has brown feeding tentacles called cirri. These cirri reach out from between the plates to eat.

These animals travel far on ocean currents. They can reach cold places like Iceland. This happens when they stick to floating objects. They start to breed when they are 2.5 centimeters long. The eggs stay inside the mother for one week. Then, tiny larvae swim in the water. They drift as plankton until they find a place to settle.

Caption: Barnacles hanging from a piece of wood.

The pelagic gooseneck barnacle is a fascinating sea creature.

It belongs to the Lepadidae family. These animals live in tropical and subtropical seas around the world. They are often found in very large numbers. They do not live on the ocean floor. Instead, they attach themselves to things that float. This includes floating wood, seaweed, and ship hulls. They can even stick to piers or pilings.

This barnacle has a special way of working. It uses a long, tough stalk called a peduncle. This stalk is a purplish-brown color. The main body is called a capitulum. It has five smooth, translucent plates. These plates have bright scarlet edges. Inside the body, there is a head and a thorax. The barnacle also has brown, feeding tentacles called cirri. These cirri reach out from between the plates to catch food.

Scientists have studied these creatures for a long time. Carl Linnaeus described this species in 1758. People once had very different ideas about them. In 13th-century England, the word "barnacle" meant a type of goose. People thought these shells grew from rotting wood. They thought the brown cirri looked like bird down. They believed the shells actually held tiny birds inside.

These barnacles are great travelers. They move with ocean currents like the North Atlantic Drift. This can carry them to very cold places. They have been found in Norway and Iceland. They have also been seen in the Shetland Islands. They can even be found in Spitsbergen. In 2008, someone found them on a crocodile in Mexico. This was the first time they were found on a crocodilian.

Learning about barnacles helps us understand ocean life. They start to breed when they reach 2.5 centimeters long. They are hermaphrodites, which means they have both male and female parts. The eggs stay inside the mother for one week. Then, they emerge as tiny, free-swimming larvae. These larvae are called nauplius. They drift in the water as plankton. Eventually, they settle onto a new floating object to grow.

The pelagic gooseneck barnacle is a unique marine crustacean. Its scientific name is Lepas anatifera. It belongs to the biological family Lepadidae. These animals are found in tropical and subtropical seas across the entire world. This is known as a cosmopolitan distribution. Unlike many other barnacles, they do not live on the ocean floor. Instead, they attach themselves to floating objects. They often live in very large numbers on these items.

The body of this barnacle has two main parts. The first part is a long, flexible stalk called a peduncle. This stalk is tough and has a purplish-brown color. The second part is the main body, or the capitulum. The capitulum is supported by the peduncle. It consists of five smooth, translucent plates. These plates are edged with a bright scarlet color. They are separated by narrow gaps. The plates also show growth lines and faint radial sculpture lines.

Inside the capitulum, the barnacle has a specific internal structure. It contains a head and a thorax. It also has a vestigial abdomen. To eat, the barnacle uses specialized appendages. These are brown, filamentous tentacles called cirri. The cirri project out from between the protective plates. They allow the animal to capture food from the water. The capitulum can grow to a certain length. The peduncle also varies in its size.

Reproduction for Lepas anatifera involves several specific biological steps. These barnacles are hermaphrodites. This means they possess both male and female reproductive organs. They begin to breed when they reach about 2.5 centimeters in length. Fertilization happens internally within the animal. After fertilization, the eggs are brooded inside the mantle. This brooding process lasts for one week. Then, the eggs emerge as free-swimming larvae called nauplius. These larvae drift as part of the plankton. Eventually, they settle onto a floating object to begin their lives.

These creatures are incredible travelers due to ocean currents. They frequently attach to objects like floating timber or seaweed. They also attach to ship hulls, piers, and pilings. They can even attach to various types of flotsam. Currents like the North Atlantic Drift carry these objects into colder seas. Because of this, they are often found far from their tropical origins. They can be found in waters that are too cold for them to reproduce. This has led to sightings in Norway and the Shetland Islands. They have also been documented in the Faeroe Islands, Iceland, and Spitsbergen.

History shows that people once misunderstood these animals. In 13th-century England, the word "barnacle" actually referred to the barnacle goose. This bird breeds in the Arctic but winters in the British Isles. People back then thought these barnacles grew spontaneously from rotting wood. They believed the shells actually contained little birds. This idea came from the brown cirri. The cirri looked like the down of an unhatched gosling. In 1678, a writer even described them as shells containing perfectly shaped little birds. Carl Linnaeus eventually provided the formal scientific description in 1758.

Recent discoveries have expanded our knowledge of where they live. For a long time, they were known to grow on sea turtles. However, a new record was made in 2008. Small specimens were found attached to an American crocodile. This happened on the Pacific coast of Mexico. This crocodile species lives in river estuaries and mangrove swamps. It is salt tolerant and can live in marine environments. The size of the barnacles suggested the crocodile was in the sea for at least a week. This was the first time Lepas anatifera was recorded as an epibiont of a crocodilian.