Another barnacle for you — this one is a Thatched Barnacle (Semibalanus cariosus). These two young barnacles are growing on a mussel shell. Note the nice new growth at the base. Barnacles add new material to their shells where they are attached to the substrate. In this case, the new growth is identifiable by its white coloration.
4 comments:
Wow, they are beautiful!
At first hasty glance, I thought they were flowers.
Hi, Alice!
Thanks! I'm glad you find them attractive...I do, too! Some day we'll have to tell the story of the individual barnacles that Eric followed for over 20 years!
:) Jackie
Once attached like that, can barnacles move about at all, or those two going to neighbors for life?
Hi!
They're likely going to be neighbors for life. It's possible they could shift their positions a bit -- for example, you can visualize how they could add more growth to one side or another -- but they generally can't move very far. So where they first attach is pretty much it!
Jackie
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