| Cryptolepas rhachianecti | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Thecostraca |
| Subclass: | Cirripedia |
| Order: | Balanomorpha |
| Family: | Coronulidae |
| Genus: | Cryptolepas |
| Species: | C. rhachianecti |
| Binomial name | |
| Cryptolepas rhachianecti | |
Cryptolepas rhachianecti is a species of whale barnacle that lives as a passenger on the skin of gray whales and certain other species of whale in the northern Pacific Ocean.
Cryptolepas rhachianecti can grow to a diameter of 3.8 cm (1.5 in). [2]
The species is now only known from the northern Pacific Ocean where gray whales are found. The gray whale was present in the northern Atlantic Ocean between the Late Pleistocene and recent times, and C. rhachianecti fossils have been found on a beach in the Netherlands, showing that the barnacle must also have been present. [3] This barnacle has been found between January and March for several years in captive beluga whales in San Diego Bay, near a route used by migratory gray whales. The barnacles have evoked a skin reaction in the beluga whales resulting in the eviction of the barnacles, which suggests an immune response. [4]
This barnacle is exclusively found attached to the skin of whales, almost always to the gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), but occasionally it has been found on the killer whale (Orcinus orca) and the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas). [5] On the gray whale, the barnacles embed themselves deeply in the skin and are mostly clustered on the animal's head and back. Crawling among the barnacles and taking advantage of the protection they provide are several species of ectoparasitic crustaceans known as whale lice, including the gray whale louse Cyamus scammoni and the generalist whale lice Cyamus ceti and Cyamus kessleri . So common are these that an adult gray whale may be carrying several hundred pounds weight of barnacles and lice. [2] Gray whales have been observed rubbing their bodies against pebbly seabeds in an apparent effort to rid themselves of attached organisms. [2]
Eschrichtiidae or the gray whales is a family of baleen whale with a single extant species, the gray whale, as well as three described fossil genera: Archaeschrichtius and Eschrichtioides from the Miocene and Pliocene of Italy respectively, and Gricetoides from the Pliocene of North Carolina. More recent phylogenetic studies have found this family to be invalid, with its members nesting inside the Balaenopteridae. The names of the extant genus and the family honours Danish zoologist Daniel Eschricht.
The gray whale, also known as the grey whale, gray back whale, Pacific gray whale, Korean gray whale, or California gray whale, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of 14.9 meters (49 ft), a weight of up to 41 tonnes (90,000 lb) and lives between 55 and 70 years, although one female was estimated to be 75–80 years of age. The common name of the whale comes from the gray patches and white mottling on its dark skin. Gray whales were once called devil fish because of their fighting behavior when hunted. The gray whale is the sole living species in the genus Eschrichtius. It is the sole living genus in the family Eschrichtiidae, however some recent studies classify it as a member of the family Balaenopteridae. This mammal is descended from filter-feeding whales that appeared during the Neogene.
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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.
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