Goose barnacle

Goose barnacle

Taxobox | name = Goose barnacle


image_caption = "Pollicipes cornucopia"
image_width = 250px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
subphylum = Crustacea
classis = Maxillopoda
infraclassis = Cirripedia
ordo = Pedunculata
subordo = Lepadomorpha
subdivision_ranks = Families
subdivision = Lepadidae Darwin, 1852

Oxynaspididae Gruvel, 1905

Poecilasmatidae Annandale, 1909

Goose barnacles (suborder "Lepadomorpha"), sometimes Gooseneck barnacles, are filter-feeding crustaceans that live attached to hard surfaces of rocks and flotsam in the ocean intertidal zone.

Some species of goose barnacles are pelagic and are most frequently found on tidewrack on oceanic coasts. Unlike most other types of barnacles, intertidal goose barnacles depend on water motion rather than the movement of their cirri for feeding, and are therefore found only on exposed or moderately exposed coasts.

In the days before it was realised that birds migrate, it was thought that Barnacle Geese, "Branta leucopsis", developed from this crustacean, since they were never seen to nest in temperate Europe, hence the scientific and English names. The confusion was prompted by the similarities in colour and shape. Because they were often found on driftwood, it was assumed that the barnacles were attached to branches before they fell in the water. The Welsh monk, Giraldus Cambrensis, claimed to have seen goose barnacles in the process of turning into barnacle geese in the twelfth century.

External links

* [http://www.ncl.ac.uk/barnacles Newcastle University barnacle and biofouling information site]


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Goose barnacle — Goose Goose (g[=oo]s), n.; pl. {Geese} (g[=e]s). [OE. gos, AS. g[=o]s, pl. g[=e]s; akin to D. & G. gans, Icel. g[=a]s, Dan. gaas, Sw. g[*a]s, Russ. guse. OIr. geiss, L. anser, for hanser, Gr. chh n, Skr. ha[.m]sa. [root]233. Cf. {Gander},… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • goose-barnacle — see under ↑barnacle1 • • • Main Entry: ↑goose …   Useful english dictionary

  • goose barnacle — n. 〚from the fable that geese grew from them〛 any of a number of barnacles (genera Lepas and Mitella) that attach themselves by a long, fleshy stalk to rocks, ship bottoms, etc. * * * …   Universalium

  • goose barnacle — n. [from the fable that geese grew from them] any of a number of barnacles (genera Lepas and Mitella) that attach themselves by a long, fleshy stalk to rocks, ship bottoms, etc …   English World dictionary

  • goose barnacle — Lepas Le pas (l[=e] p[a^]s), n. [L., a limpet, fr. Gr. lepa s.] (Zo[ o]l.) Any one of various species of {Lepas}, a genus of pedunculated barnacles found attached to floating timber, bottoms of ships, Gulf weed, etc.; called also {goose barnacle} …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • goose barnacle — goose′ bar nacle n. ivt See under barnacle 1) • Etymology: 1880–85 …   From formal English to slang

  • goose barnacle — noun stalked barnacle that attaches to ship bottoms or floating timbers • Syn: ↑gooseneck barnacle, ↑Lepas fascicularis • Hypernyms: ↑barnacle, ↑cirriped, ↑cirripede • Member Holonyms: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • goose barnacle — noun a stalked barnacle which hangs from floating objects, catching passing prey with its feathery legs. [Genus Lepas.] …   English new terms dictionary

  • goose barnacle. — See under barnacle1 (def. 1). [1880 85] * * * …   Universalium

  • goose barnacle. — See under barnacle1 (def. 1). [1880 85] …   Useful english dictionary

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