Barnacle
Subclass of sessile marine crustaceans
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Key Takeaways
- Barnacles are arthropods of the subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea.
- Barnacles are exclusively marine invertebrates; many species live in shallow and tidal waters.
- Barnacle adults are sessile; most are suspension feeders with hard calcareous shells, but the Rhizocephala are specialized parasites of other crustaceans, with reduced bodies.
- In folklore, barnacle geese were once held to emerge fully formed from goose barnacles.
- Barnacles are economically significant as biofouling on ships, where they cause hydrodynamic drag, reducing efficiency.
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.
Barnacle adults are sessile; most are suspension feeders with hard calcareous shells, but the Rhizocephala are specialized parasites of other crustaceans, with reduced bodies. Barnacles have existed since at least the mid-Carboniferous, some 325 million years ago.
In folklore, barnacle geese were once held to emerge fully formed from goose barnacles. Both goose barnacles and the Chilean giant barnacle are fished and eaten. Barnacles are economically significant as biofouling on ships, where they cause hydrodynamic drag, reducing efficiency. In culture, Barnacle Bill became a comic folktype of a seaman, appearing in several films and a drinking song.
Etymology
The word "barnacle" is attested in the early 13th century as Middle English "bernekke" or "bernake", close to Old French "bernaque" and medieval Latin bernacae or berneka, denoting the barnacle goose. Because the full life cycles of both barnacles and geese were unknown at the time, (geese spend their breeding seasons in the Arctic) a folktale emerged that geese hatched from barnacles. It was not applied strictly to the arthropod until the 1580s. The ultimate meaning of the word is unknown.
The name Cirripedia comes from the Latin words cirritus "curly" from cirrus "curl" and pedis from pes "foot". The two words together mean "curly-footed", alluding to the curved legs used in filter-feeding.
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