Friday, February 3, 2017

Red-and-white revisited

Remember Paraconcavus pacificus, the red-and-white barnacle that grows on sand dollars?  I wrote about them in September 2016 (see posts from 25 September and 27 September).

 Well, we're still encountering a few of these southern barnacles here and there.  Below is a recent example — an individual found washed up on Salmon Creek Beach tonight (3 February 2017):

 


On the bottom, you can still see a small remnant of the skeleton of a sand dollar attached to the base of this barnacle:

 

We're still very interested in any sightings of this barnacle north of San Francisco.  If you spot one, let me know!

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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 5, 2017 at 5:28 AM

    Hello! I have been a reader of your blog for quite a while, and I feel that you may be qualified to answer a question, perhaps make a whole post about it.

    How does a barnacle grow? Aren't a barnacle's plates cemented to its basal plate, and never shed (unlike its exoskeleton)? If so, how does it increase in size?

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  2. Jackie SonesFebruary 5, 2017 at 8:43 AM

    Hi! Thanks for the question! We have some ideas about how to describe and illustrate barnacle growth. It might take a little time to pull together a post, but I hope we can share something within the next few weeks. More soon!

    :) Jackie

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  3. HollisMarch 30, 2017 at 7:49 AM

    Hey Jackie - recently found two more on sand dollars while doing surveys on No Salmon Creek (just north of the creek) on Mar 3 (nice cluster!) and again on So Salmon Creek on Mar 7.

    Hollis

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