Herb Gruenhagen

Description

• Goose barnacles (order Pedunculata), also called stalked barnacles or gooseneck barnacles, are filter-feeding crustaceans that live attached to hard surfaces of rocks and flotsam in the ocean intertidal zone
• All goose barnacles have five plates

Range

• Southern Alaska to at last Punta Abreojos, Baja California

Habitat

• The goose-neck barnacle is a common inhabitant in the intertidal zone of rocky shores especially in association with the California mussel
• Observed at rocky shores and rock jetties leading into bays

Diet

• Feeds by growing outward so that it can extend its cirri in a fan oriented perpendicular to the backwash of the waves
• Small particles of detritus and tiny crustaceans get caught in the cirri, which are subsequently eaten

Interesting Facts

• The stalk of this animal has been used in the preparation of a chowder
• Barnacle has been found on humpback whales

Reproduction