Chthamalus fragilis

Last updated

Chthamalus fragilis
Chthamalus fragilis on a leaf of Spartina alterniflora. Photo by Yihui Zhang.jpg
Chthamalus fragilis on a leaf of Spartina alterniflora
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Thecostraca
Subclass: Cirripedia
Order: Balanomorpha
Family: Chthamalidae
Genus: Chthamalus
Foster, 1980
Species:
C. fragilis
Binomial name
Chthamalus fragilis
(Darwin, 1854) [1]

Chthamalus fragilis is a small gray barnacle found in the upper intertidal zone of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, from approximately Cape Cod southward to Florida and into the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. It is also commonly known as little grey barnacle. The species is believed to have been distributed only as far northward as North Carolina or Virginia until the late 1800s, when it was noticed along the Massachusetts coast. The species may have expanded its range naturally or been introduced to New England through anthropogenic activities. [2] Chthamalus fragilis is unusual in that it often recruits to stems of Spartina alterniflora. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Allosaurus</i> Extinct genus of carnosaurian theropod dinosaur

Allosaurus is an extinct genus of large carnosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period. The name "Allosaurus" means "different lizard", alluding to its unique concave vertebrae. It is derived from the Greek words ἄλλος and σαῦρος. The first fossil remains that could definitively be ascribed to this genus were described in 1877 by famed paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. As one of the first well-known theropod dinosaurs, it has long attracted attention outside of paleontological circles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnacle</span> Infraclass of crustaceans

Barnacles are a type of arthropod constituting the subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and are hence related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine, and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in erosive settings. Around 1,000 barnacle species are currently known.

Realized niche width is a phrase relating to ecology, is defined by the actual space that an organism inhabits and the resources it can access as a result of limiting pressures from other species. An organism's ecological niche is determined by the biotic and abiotic factors that make up that specific ecosystem that allow that specific organism to survive there. The width of an organism's niche is set by the range of conditions a species is able to survive in that specific environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intertidal ecology</span>

Intertidal ecology is the study of intertidal ecosystems, where organisms live between the low and high tide lines. At low tide, the intertidal is exposed whereas at high tide, the intertidal is underwater. Intertidal ecologists therefore study the interactions between intertidal organisms and their environment, as well as between different species of intertidal organisms within a particular intertidal community. The most important environmental and species interactions may vary based on the type of intertidal community being studied, the broadest of classifications being based on substrates—rocky shore and soft bottom communities.

<i>Bacteroides fragilis</i> Species of bacterium

Bacteroides fragilis is an anaerobic, Gram-negative, pleomorphic to rod-shaped bacterium. It is part of the normal microbiota of the human colon and is generally commensal, but can cause infection if displaced into the bloodstream or surrounding tissue following surgery, disease, or trauma.

<i>Austrominius modestus</i> Species of barnacle

Austrominius modestus is a species of barnacle in the family Elminiidae, native to Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand, but now spread to Britain and the north west coasts of Europe. It reaches a maximum size of about 10 millimetres in diameter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chthamalidae</span> Family of crustaceans

The Chthamalidae are a family of chthamaloid barnacles, living entirely in intertidal/subtidal habitats, characterized by a primary shell wall of eight, six, or four plates, lacking imbricating plate whorls, and either membraneous or more rarely calcareous basis. They are not found below immediate subtidal habitats, and more likely are found in the highest tier of shallow-water barnacle fauna. They can be found in the most rigorous wave-washed locations, and some species are found in the surf zone above high tide mark, only receiving water from wave action at high tide.

<i>Semibalanus balanoides</i> Species of barnacle

Semibalanus balanoides is a common and widespread boreo-arctic species of acorn barnacle. It is common on rocks and other substrates in the intertidal zone of north-western Europe and both coasts of North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whale barnacle</span> Barnacles that attach to whales

Whale barnacles are species of acorn barnacle that belong to the family Coronulidae. They typically attach to baleen whales, and sometimes settle on toothed whales. The whale barnacles diverged from the turtle barnacles about three million years ago.

<i>Concholepas concholepas</i> Species of gastropod

Concholepas concholepas, the Chilean abalone or Peruvian tolina, is a species of large edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk. Despite the superficial resemblance, C. concholepas is not a true abalone, but a member of the family Muricidae, also known as murex snails or rock snails. This species is native to the coasts of Chile and Peru, where it is called loco, pata de burro, tolina, or chanque.

<i>Chthamalus</i> Genus of barnacles

Chthamalus is a genus of barnacles that is found along almost all non-boreal coasts of the northern hemisphere, as well as many regions in the southern hemisphere. These small barnacles have been studied in part because of the taxonomic confusion over a group of species that, by and large, are morphologically and ecologically quite similar. In recent years, molecular techniques have identified a number of cryptic species that have been subsequently confirmed by taxonomists using morphological measurements. Most recently the genus has been shown to be paraphyletic, with the genus Microeuraphia nested within Chthamalus.

<i>Chthamalus stellatus</i> Species of barnacle

Chthamalus stellatus, common name Poli's stellate barnacle, is a species of acorn barnacle common on rocky shores in South West England, Ireland, and Southern Europe. It is named after Giuseppe Saverio Poli.

<i>Chthamalus montagui</i> Species of barnacle

Chthamalus montagui, common name Montagu's stellate barnacle, is a species of acorn barnacle common on rocky shores in South West England, Ireland, and Southern Europe.

<i>Pollicipes pollicipes</i> Species of barnacle

Pollicipes pollicipes, known as the goose neck barnacle, goose barnacle or leaf barnacle is a species of goose barnacle, also well known under the taxonomic synonym Pollicipes cornucopia. It is closely related to Pollicipes polymerus, a species with the same common names, but found on the Pacific coast of North America, and to Pollicipes elegans a species from the coast of Chile. It is found on rocky shores in the north-east Atlantic Ocean and is prized as a delicacy, especially in the Iberian Peninsula.

Hemioniscus balani, a species of isopod crustacean, is a widespread parasitic castrator of barnacle in the northern Atlantic Ocean. Its range extends from Norway to the Atlantic coast of France, and as far west as Massachusetts. It is also commonly found on the Pacific coast of North America; it is not known if the Pacific and Atlantic populations are the same species, or if the Pacific population exists following human-assisted introduction.

<i>Dientamoeba fragilis</i> Parasite of humans, pigs and gorillas

Dientamoeba fragilis is a species of single-celled excavates found in the gastrointestinal tract of some humans, pigs and gorillas. It causes gastrointestinal upset in some people, but not in others. It is an important cause of travellers diarrhoea, chronic diarrhoea, fatigue and, in children, failure to thrive. Despite this, its role as a "commensal, pathobiont, or pathogen" is still debated. D. fragilis is one of the smaller parasites that are able to live in the human intestine. Dientamoeba fragilis cells are able to survive and move in fresh feces but are sensitive to aerobic environments. They dissociate when in contact or placed in saline, tap water or distilled water.

Joseph Hurd Connell FAA was an American ecologist. He earned his MA degree in zoology at the University of California, Berkeley and his PhD at Glasgow University. Connell's first research paper examined the effects of interspecific competition and predation on populations of a barnacle species on the rocky shores of Scotland. According to Connell, this classic paper is often cited because it addressed ecological topics that previously had been given minor roles. Together, with a subsequent barnacle study on the influence of competition and desiccation, these two influential papers have laid the foundation for future research and the findings continue to have relevance to current ecology. His early work earned him a Guggenheim fellowship in 1962 and the George Mercer Award in 1963.

<i>Notochthamalus</i> Genus of barnacles

Notochthamalus scabrosus, the only species in the genus Notochthamalus, is a species of barnacle found along the south-western and south-eastern coasts of South America, from Peru to the Falkland Islands. The species is found almost exclusively higher in the intertidal zone than the mussel Perumytilus, often codistributed with the confamilial barnacle Jehlius cirratus and Balanus flosculus.

Chthamalus anisopoma is a species of intertidal barnacle. Indigenous to the northern Gulf of California, adult Chthamalus anisopoma are found on exposed shores between 0.0 and 2.0 m above mean low tide. The species is typically absent in areas protected from wave splash. Notably, Chthamalus anisipoma exhibits predator-mediated plasticity in the growth of its calcareous test. In the presence of the carnivorous gastropod Acanthina angelica, the barnacle's typical conical growth form is altered to appear bent over, with the operculum perpendicular to the substrate. The alternate form is more resistant to predation.

References

  1. "Chthamalus fragilis Darwin, 1854". The Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  2. Govindarajan, AF; Bukša, F; Bockrath, K; Wares, JP; Pineda, J (April 30, 2015). "Phylogeographic structure and northward range expansion in the barnacle Chthamalus fragilis". PeerJ. 3: e926. doi: 10.7717/peerj.926 . PMC   4419548 . PMID   25945315.
  3. O'Riordan, RM; Power, AM; Myers, AA (2010). "Factors, at different scales, affecting the distribution of species of the genus Chthamalus Ranzani (Cirripedia, Balanomorpha, Chthamaloidea". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 392 (1–2): 46–64. doi:10.1016/J.Jembe.2010.04.010.