barnacle

Morphology

The shell wall of this species is ~1 cm in diameter and typically ridged, which gives the animal an irregular outline. Two pairs of plates form and operculum to block the entrance to the shell and helps protect the animal inside from predators and desiccation.

Evolution

Fossils of the genus Tesseropora have been dated back to the Oligocene between 33 and 23 mya. This group was once abundant and diverse along continental margins in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, now however, they are largely insular and found on oceanic islands.

Behaviour

Barnacles are sessile, being permanently attached to the substratum. Barnacles feed by filtering the water column for food using highly modified limbs, called cirri.

Method of reproduction

Hermaphroditic, internal fertilisation

Habitat

Marine

Embedded in blue coral or free-living attached to rocks

Distribution

Indo-West Pacific