goose barnacle

crustacean
Also known as: Lepadidae

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characteristics

  • Barnacle
    In barnacle

    …(stalked) forms include the common goose barnacle (genus Lepas), found worldwide on driftwood. Acorn barnacles, also called rock barnacles, are sessile (not stalked); their symmetrical shells tend to be barrellike or broadly conical. This group includes Balanus, responsible for much of the fouling of ships and harbour structures. Wart barnacles,…

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goose barnacle myth

  • In cirripede: Importance to humans

    …the Middle Ages a prevalent myth involving barnacles purported to explain the annual appearance of certain geese in the fall. Because these geese were arriving from their summer breeding grounds north of the Arctic Circle, they were not observed to breed locally. At the same time, fall gales often blew…

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