What are barnacles?
Barnacles are crustaceans like crabs and shrimps. But they belong to a different group, their own Class Cirripedia. There are about 900 species of barnacles. Features: Barnacles are often mistaken for snails because of their hard ‘shells’. However, barnacles as actually crustaceans. The larvae of barnacles are shrimp-like and swim freely. Eventually, the larvae glue themselves head down onto a hard surface and develop a conical outer shell-like structure made up of several plates (wall plates). There is an opening at the centre of this ‘shell’. At low tide, the opening is sealed by a door (operculum) made up of a pair of plates. A barnacle without these plates is a dead barnacle! Some barnacles species can be identified by the shape of the operculum plates and number of wall plates. Sometimes confused with limpets which are snails. Here’s more on how to tell apart shelled animals found on rocks. What do they eat? When the tide comes in, barnacles open up their plates and extend their f
Barnacles are living creatures that are members of the crustacean family. They are related to shellfish such as shrimp and crabs. They thrive in salt water throughout the temperate regions of the world. Removing barnacles from boats is a difficult problem for boat owners, who spend countless hours and money on barnacle removal. When barnacles and other creatures attach themselves to a boat’s hull, it is called fouling. As juveniles, barnacles swim freely in the ocean, but as they approach adulthood, they attach themselves to a substrate and then form a shell. Once barnacles are attached they form large colonies where they remain for the rest of their life spans, usually three to five years. Wood, fiberglass, aluminum, and metal substrates are all fair game to the barnacle.
