Goose barnacle

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Goose barnacle
Pollicipes cornucopia.jpg
Pollicipes pollicipes
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Thecostraca
Subclass: Cirripedia
Infraclass: Thoracica
Order: Pedunculata
Lamarck, 1818

Goose barnacles, also called stalked barnacles or gooseneck barnacles, are filter-feeding crustaceans that live attached to hard surfaces of rocks and flotsam in the ocean intertidal zone. Goose barnacles formerly made up the taxonomic order Pedunculata, but the group has been found to be polyphyletic, with its members scattered across multiple orders of the infraclass Thoracica. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Biology

Lepas anatifera in Thailand Gooseneckbarnacles.jpg
Lepas anatifera in Thailand
Gooseneck barnacles reaching down from the top of a tidal cave in Oregon Goose Barnacles in a cave south of Cannon Beach, Oregon, Aug 2016.jpg
Gooseneck barnacles reaching down from the top of a tidal cave in Oregon

Some species of goose barnacles such as Lepas anatifera are pelagic and are most frequently found on tidewrack on oceanic coasts. Unlike most other types of barnacles, intertidal goose barnacles (e.g. Pollicipes pollicipes and Pollicipes polymerus ) depend on water motion rather than the movement of their cirri for feeding, so are found only on exposed or moderately exposed coasts.

Spontaneous generation

"The goose-tree" from Gerard's Herbal (1597), displaying the belief that goose barnacles produced barnacle geese. PSM V04 D585 The goose tree.jpg
"The goose-tree" from Gerard's Herbal (1597), displaying the belief that goose barnacles produced barnacle geese.

In the days before birds were known to migrate, barnacle geese, Branta leucopsis, were thought to have developed from this crustacean through spontaneous generation, since they were never seen to nest in temperate Europe, [4] hence the English names "goose barnacle" and "barnacle goose", and the scientific name Lepas anserifera (Latin : anser , "goose"). The confusion was prompted by their similarities in colour and shape. Because they were often found on driftwood, the barnacles were assumed to be attached to branches before they fell in the water. The archdeacon of Brecon, Gerald of Wales, made this claim in his Topographia Hiberniae . [5]

Since barnacle geese were thought to be "neither flesh, nor born of flesh", they were allowed to be eaten on days when eating meat was forbidden by some Christian churches, [4] though it was not universally accepted. Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II examined barnacles and noted no evidence of any bird-like embryo in them, and the secretary of Lev of Rozmital wrote a very skeptical account of his reaction to being served the goose at a fast-day dinner in 1456. [6]

One component of L. anatifera that continues to be researched today is the adhesive properties of its secretion. Following an observational study regarding the adhesive properties of goose barnacle, its adhesive gland cells were located inside the muscle layer on the back side of the main stalk (peduncle). These glands secrete protein-based adhesive to make attaching the barnacles to fixed or mobile items/entities possible. This research in the barnacle adhesive serves as inspiration to the healthcare community to conduct their own research in an attempt to improve medical adhesive.[ citation needed ]

As food

Goose barnacles served in a Spanish restaurant in Madrid. Percebes.iguaria.jpg
Goose barnacles served in a Spanish restaurant in Madrid.

In Portugal and Spain, P. pollicipes is a widely consumed and expensive delicacy known as percebes, which are harvested commercially in the Iberian northern coast, mainly in Galicia and Asturias, but also in the southwestern Portuguese coast (Alentejo) and are also imported from other countries within its range of distribution, particularly from Morocco. A larger but less palatable species (P. polymerus) was also exported to Spain from Canada until 1999, when the Canadian government ceased exports due to depletion of stocks.

In Spain, percebes are lightly boiled in brine and served whole and hot under a napkin. To eat them, the diamond-shaped foot is pinched between thumb and finger and the inner tube pulled out of the scaly case. The claw is removed and the remaining flesh is swallowed. [7] Historically, the indigenous peoples of California ate the stem after cooking it in hot ashes. [8]

Related Research Articles

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

Barnacles are arthropods of the subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea. They are related to crabs and lobsters, with similar nauplius larvae. Barnacles are exclusively marine invertebrates; many species live in shallow and tidal waters. Some 2,100 species have been described.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnacle goose</span> Species of bird

The barnacle goose is a species of goose that belongs to the genus Branta of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey Anser species. Despite its superficial similarity to the brant goose, genetic analysis has shown it is an eastern derivative of the cackling goose lineage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thoracica</span> Infraclass of barnacles

Thoracica is an infraclass of crustaceans which contains the most familiar species of barnacles found on rocky coasts, such as Semibalanus balanoides and Chthamalus stellatus. They have six well-developed limbs, and may be either stalked or sessile. The carapace is heavily calcified. The group includes free-living and commensal species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cackling goose</span> Species of bird

The cackling goose is a species of goose found in North America and East Asia.

<i>Anelasma</i> Species of parasitic barnacles that attack sharks

Anelasma is a monotypic genus of goose barnacles that live as parasites on various shark hosts.

<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.

<i>Dosima fascicularis</i> Genus of barnacles

Dosima fascicularis, the buoy barnacle, is "the most specialised pleustonic goose barnacle" species. It hangs downwards from the water surface, held up by a float of its own construction, and is carried along by ocean currents.

<i>Lottia digitalis</i> Species of gastropod

Lottia digitalis, commonly known as the fingered limpet or ribbed limpet, is a species of sea snail, a true limpet, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Lottiidae. These limpets are usually found on the surface of rocks in the high intertidal region on the coastal fringes of the north-eastern Pacific Ocean.

<i>Lepas anserifera</i> Species of barnacle

Lepas anserifera is a species of goose barnacle or stalked barnacle in the family Lepadidae. It lives attached to floating timber, ships' hulls and various sorts of flotsam.

<i>Lepas anatifera</i> Species of barnacle

Lepas anatifera, commonly known as the pelagic gooseneck barnacle or smooth gooseneck barnacle, is a species of barnacle in the family Lepadidae. These barnacles are found, often in large numbers, attached by their flexible stalks to floating timber, the hulls of ships, piers, pilings, seaweed, and various sorts of flotsam.

<i>Pollicipes polymerus</i> Species of crustacean

Pollicipes polymerus, commonly known as the gooseneck barnacle or leaf barnacle, is a species of stalked barnacle. It is found, often in great numbers, on rocky shores on the Pacific coasts of North America.

<i>Catomerus</i> Genus of barnacles

Catomerus is a monotypic genus of intertidal/shallow water acorn barnacle that is found in warm temperate waters of Australia. The genus and species is very easily identified by whorls of small plates surrounding the base of the primary shell wall; no other shoreline barnacle species in the Southern Hemisphere has that feature. This species is considered to be a relic, as these plates are found only in primitive living lineages of acorn barnacles or in older fossil species. The fact that this is an intertidal species is unusual, because living primitive relic species are often found in more isolated habitats such as deep ocean basins and abyssal hydrothermal vents.

Alepas pacifica is a species of goose barnacle in the family Heteralepadidae. It is a pelagic species and is an obligate associate of various species of jellyfish. It mainly occurs in the Pacific Ocean.

Oxynaspis gracilis is a species of goose barnacle in the family Oxynaspididae, commonly known as the black coral barnacle because it is normally found attached to black coral. The type specimen was found in Réunion in the East Indies.

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

Pollicipes caboverdensis is a species of goose barnacle in the family Pollicipedidae. It is found in rocky intertidal zones on the coasts of the islands Santiago, Sal and São Vicente, Cape Verde. The species was first described by Joana N. Fernandes, Teresa Cruz and Robert Van Syoc in 2010 after a 24.5 mm specimen collected from Ponta Preta, northwestern Santiago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multicrustacea</span> Superclass of crustaceans

The clade Multicrustacea constitutes the largest superclass of crustaceans, containing approximately four-fifths of all described crustacean species, including crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill, prawns, woodlice, barnacles, copepods, amphipods, mantis shrimp and others. The largest branch of multicrustacea is the class Malacostraca.

<i>Conchoderma virgatum</i> Species of crustacean

Conchoderma virgatum is a species of goose barnacle in the family Lepadidae. It is a pelagic species found in open water in most of the world's oceans attached to drifting objects or marine organisms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnacle goose myth</span> Sources of ancient myth

The barnacle goose myth is a widely-reported historical misconception about the breeding habits of the barnacle goose and brant goose. One version of the myth is that these geese emerge fully formed from goose barnacles (Cirripedia). Other myths exist about how the barnacle goose supposedly emerges and grows from matter other than bird eggs.

<i>Lepas testudinata</i> Species of barnacle

Lepas testudinata is a species of goose barnacle in the family Lepadidae. First observed in 1834, Lepas testudinata has undergone several reclassifications, and its relationship to other Lepas species is still the subject of ongoing research. L. testudinata is endemic to temperate waters in the China Seas, Australian Sea, and the Indo-West Pacific, and there are two distinct subgroups within the species. This barnacle species exclusively colonizes free-floating debris and tidewrack, and can form colonies of over 1000 members at a time. Due to this colonization habit, L. testudinata plays a role in biofouling and often serves as a foundation species when preyed upon.

<i>Pollicipes elegans</i> Species of barnacles

Pollicipes elegans, the Pacific goose barnacle, is a species of gooseneck barnacle inhabiting the tropical coastline of the eastern Pacific Ocean. Its habitat borders a close relative, Pollicipes polymerus, a gooseneck barnacle covering the coastline of the Pacific Northwest. Other species belonging to the genus Pollicipes are found along the eastern coastlines of the Atlantic Ocean.

References

  1. Chan, Benny K. K.; Dreyer, Niklas; Gale, Andy S.; Glenner, Henrik; et al. (2021). "The evolutionary diversity of barnacles, with an updated classification of fossil and living forms". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 193 (3): 789–846. doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa160 . hdl: 11250/2990967 .
  2. Buckeridge, John; Newman, William (2006). "A revision of the Iblidae and the stalked barnacles (Crustacea: Cirripedia: Thoracica), including new ordinal, familial and generic taxa, and two new species from New Zealand and Tasmanian waters". Zootaxa. 1136: 1. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.1136.1.1 .
  3. "World Register of Marine Species, Thoracica". marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  4. 1 2 Michael Allaby (2009). "Barnacles". Animals: from Mythology to Zoology. Infobase Publishing. pp. 75–77. ISBN   978-0-8160-6101-3.
  5. Beatrice White (1945). "Whale-hunting, the barnacle goose, and the date of the "Ancrene Riwle". Three notes on Old and Middle English". The Modern Language Review . 40 (3): 205–207. doi:10.2307/3716844. JSTOR   3716844.
  6. Henisch, Bridget Ann, Fast and Feast: Food in Medieval Society. The Pennsylvania State Press, University Park. 1976. ISBN   0-271-01230-7, pp. 48–49.
  7. "Percebes: Grail trail". The Daily Telegraph. 23 April 2004. Retrieved 2024-04-07.
  8. The Natural World of the California Indians. By Robert F. Heizer and Albert B. Elsasser. Via books.google.com, Accessed 2024-04-07