Goose Barnacle

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

You might be familiar with this creature if you regularly go for a stroll on the beach. :)

Goose barnacle Lepas sp., a small, fixed, shelled animal often found colonising slippers, bottles and almost any kind of solid objects available in the sea. Despite their appearance, these are in no way related to shellfish, in fact they are crustaceans, close relatives of prawns and crabs. The tentacle-like parts sticking out of the shell are in fact modified "legs", used to catch floating food particles in the water current.

Specimens commonly washing up on beaches are about 2-5cm long. This colony, found and photographed on a buoy in the middle of the Arabian Sea, had individuals up to 10cm long, by far the largest I have seen.

Canon 500D, 100mm Macro USM
SS 1/1000
Av 5.0
EC -1.3
ISO 400
Full frame

Thanks, C&C awaited.

[Mrudul Godbole]

Oh very interesting species. Had never observed this so closely. Good details and sharpness. What is the yellow substance at the top right corner? Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

During my childhood days, first thing i asked during the Tintin comics was what is barnacle. Anyone remember "blistering barnacles" of Captain Haddock?

Scientists are learning a lot while investigating how the barnacles hold on to ships and any other floating object. Thanks for sharing this interesting subject.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Abhishek Jamalabad]

Mrudul: The yellow you see is the synthetic material constituting the buoy's exterior.
Sabyasachi: Nice to meet a fellow Tintin fan :D

[Prajwal J Ullal]

Hey nice to see and know bout this 'Barnacle'. I recall while i was a kid had got a piece of wood or something that had washed ashore near TannirBavi beach. Had got it and put in the huge fish tank at home and a day later the whole water started stinking and the water was completely muddy. Luckily all the fish in the fish tank were safe.
Good capture Abhishek and thanks for the details :)

[Mrudul Godbole]

Ohh I had never thought that Captain Haddock was referring to these 'barnacles' :D. Thanks for the sharing that info.