Huh, the art is pretty accurate.
seen from Türkiye
seen from Yemen
seen from China
seen from China
seen from United States

seen from Malaysia
seen from Türkiye
seen from India
seen from Netherlands

seen from United States
seen from T1

seen from Malaysia
seen from T1
seen from China
seen from United Kingdom

seen from United States

seen from Malaysia

seen from Malaysia
seen from China

seen from Qatar
Huh, the art is pretty accurate.
Barnacles
-L.F.
Some highlights from my "looking at things for two hours" class
Goose Barnacles growing on a cuttlefish shell.
14/10/23 - Lepas sp.
QLD:WET - Garner's Beach
Red thatched barnacle (Tetraclita rubescens)
Photo by Marlin Harms
Barnacle (by me)
How Barnacles Expand and Grow
For years I was mystified. Aren't barnacles cemented to a surface? I see dead barnacles all the time, like little shelly empty cones still glued to rocks. Those plates seem stuck good and fast to the rock along with the basal plate.
The basal plate is attached to the surface with cement, and as the the basal plate expands outwards a series of cement glands glue it down to the substrate.
But those plates are never shed, so how does it grow? The answer:
Image source:
The radial growth and advancement of the adhesive interface to the substratum of many species of acorn barnacles occurs underwater and benea
THE SIDE PLATES OF THE BARNACLE ARE NOT GLUED TO THE BASAL PLATE OR THE SUBSTRATE!
At the periphery of the basal plate, there is a rim of cuticle. Like any other crustacean, a barnacle develops a new, bigger cuticle under the old, and it's sorta scrunched up like an accordion or paper fan.
When the barnacle molts, its old cuticle splits along the rim and expands outwards. Soon, new cement glands glue down this new expanse of fresh cuticle to the substrate. So a barnacle's side plates (parietal plates) are not glued directly to substrate or its own basal plate. This is why it can continue to grow and expand So when you look at the empty shell of a dead barnacle, despite appearances the parietal plates are actually stuck to a thin ring of remaining cuticle around the periphery of the basal plate.
MYSTERY SOLVED!!