Barnacles | |
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Barnacles under water, showing the 'feet' in action | |
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Infraclass: | Cirripedia |
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A barnacle is a cirripede, a kind of crustacean. It is covered with hard plates of calcium carbonate, and lives stuck to hard surfaces.
It does not look like a crustacean, and for many centuries it was thought to be a mollusc. In the 1830s, J.V. Thompson found their larvae, and followed their development through to their adult form. They have a nauplius larva, typical of crustaeans. Later Charles Darwin, who spent eight years working on barnacles, found that Thompson had been right.
Barnacles grow on hard surfaces like piers, boats, rocks, and on other animals such as turtles and whales. Barnacles are a different group from crabs and shrimps. They are considered a nuisance to the shipping industry and private boat owners.
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