Balanus rostratus

Balanus rostratus Temporal range: Pliocene–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Thecostraca
Subclass:	Cirripedia
Order:	Balanomorpha
Family:	Balanidae
Genus:	Balanus
Species:	B. rostratus
Binomial name
Balanus rostratus Hoek  [ fr ], 1883

Balanus rostratus, the rostrate barnacle, is a species of acorn barnacle found primarily in the North Pacific.

Classification

Balanus rostratus was first scientifically described under its present name by Paulus Hoek  [ fr ] in 1883, in the eighth volume of the Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873–76 . The species' type locality is in Japanese waters near Kobe; the species was discovered in 1875, taken attached to a rock along with specimens of Balanus trigonus and Balanus amaryllis . Hoek thought the new species related to Balanus glandula and Balanus crenatus. ^[1] The type specimens were relatively small. ^[2] In English, B. rostratus is commonly called the "rostrate barnacle", while in Russian it is called "Клювоносный морской жёлудь" (lit. transl. beaked sea acorn). ^[3]

Besides the implicit nominotypical subspecies, Balanus rostratus rostratus, four subspecies, B. r. alaskensis, B. r. apertus, B. r dalli, and B. r. heteropus were described by Henry Augustus Pilsbry; first apertus in 1911 and then the remaining three all at the same time in 1916. ^[4]

Fossil record

Fossils of Balanus rostratus have been recorded from several Pliocene deposits near Nome, Alaska. ^[5]

Interactions with humans

Balanus rostratus served in Aomori

As food

Balanus rostratus is fished for and eaten in Japan. In some markets, a kilogram of rostrate barnacles can fetch ¥ 2,000 ( US$ 18.22), and there is some domestic trade for them. ^[6] Aquaculture specifically for rostrate barnacles is done only by small-scale farms. ^[7]

References

1. Hoek, P. P. C. "Report on the Cirripedia collected by H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873–76". Report on the scientific results of the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-76. Vol. 8. pp. 152–3.
2. Pilsbry, Henry. Barnacles of Japan and Bering Sea (PDF). Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries.
3. Volvenko, Igor V; Orlov, Alexei M; Gebruk, Andrey V; Katugin, Oleg N; Ogorodnikova, Alla A; Vinogradov, Georgy M; Maznikova, Olga A (2019), Checklist of the trawl macrofauna from the North Pacific and adjacent seas with information about fishery importance, potential product yield, and price range (application/zip), PANGAEA, doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.902195 , retrieved 2025-04-22
4. Pilsbry, Henry A. "The sessile barnacles (Cirripedia) contained in the collections of the U.S. National Museum". Bulletin. 93. United States National Museum: 138–48.
5. Dall, William Healey (1920). Pliocene and Pleistocene Fossils from the Arctic Coast of Alaska and the Auriferous Beaches of Nome, Norton Sound, Alaska. U.S. Government Printing Office.
6. Miyahara, Daisuke; Kado, Ryusuke (2022-09-27). "Growth, feeding, and larval density of Balanus rostratus in Ofunato Bay, northern Honshu, Japan, compared with those in adjacent Mutsu Bay, Okirai Bay and Shizugawa Bay". Sessile Organisms. 39 (1): 1–13. doi: 10.4282/sosj.39.1 . ISSN   1342-4181.
7. Kado, Ryusuke; Suzuki, Junya; Nanba, Nobuyoshi; Ogawa, Hisao (2009). "Reproduction, growth, and feeding habits of Balanus rostratus Hoek transplanted into Okkirai Bay in northeastern Honshu, Japan, and prospective problems for its aquaculture". Sessile Organisms. 26 (1): 1–10. doi:10.4282/sosj.26.1. ISSN   1342-4181.