Barnacle facts: You may want to avert your eyes... | Animal Fact Files

Barnacles look like they might be related to clams, but they're actually arthropods and more closely related to lobsters and crabs. While barnacles maintain their outer shell for protection, just like other arthropods they shed their exoskeleton periodically. Their shells, however, are simply added too. Barnacles produce a cement-like substance that holds them fast to whatever surface they decide to adhere to as a larva. Once settled, a barnacle is attached to it's place for life. They attach head-first.

Scientific Name: Infraclass - Cirripedia*
*this episode specifically focuses on Superorder: Thoracica
Range: marine waters worldwide
Size: less than an inch (2.54cm) to more than 4 inches (10cm) in length
Diet: planktonic particles
Lifespan: 30+ years in larger species

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[AnimalFactFiles]

Want more barnacle facts?! We have more videos featuring these curious crustaceans:

[kingcrimson]

Never been so disgusted and intrigued at the same time

[davidfoster]

Barnacles creep me out and their existence makes me uncomfortable yet I still proceeded to watch this...

[thewastelandwanderer]

wait so if parasitic barnacles live in the reproductive systems of crabs dors that mean crabs can technically have krabs??

[bsctsngrvy]

This is THEE most VULGAR piece of literature to ever hit the streets of Bikini Bottom!

[Ryknfjor]

Once my wife and daughter brought back an old glass bottle that had barnacles covering it. She wanted to keep it, so it got put in the garage. 2 days later i heard this weird high pitched sound whenever i went out to the garage. Barnacles were dying from being dried out. Wasnt sad. I hate barnacles.

[cobaltprime]

I remember finding out these things were living creatures and being grossed out. Idk why but I thought they were just a gross thing that attaches itself to ships.

[HypercomboProduction]

Oh no, Barbaracle from pokemon is 4' 03" according to the official pokedex. If my math is correct, the male Barbaracle's may have a 34' member.

[OnlyTwoShoes]

Tinder date: _"How big is it?"_
Barnacle: _"Oh, it's BIG..."_

[bugjams]

Barnacles are awesome. People always get shocked when I tell them they're crustaceans, and even look like little shrimps at one point during their life cycle. If you sliced a barnacle open, it would look like an upside-down shrimp, planted head-first on the ground, with it's "feathers" being it's legs it once used to swim. Barnacles even have eyes, although they're incredibly small and completely stuff inside their shell, so they're basically useless. Just leftovers from when they were once free-swimming larvae.

Also, their larval stage has 2 parts: Nauplius, and Cyprid. Shrimp also have 2 larval stages, the first is also called a Nauplius, but the second is called Mysis. Then they become Shrimplets, which is the cutest name for a baby arthropod I've ever heard next to spiderlings. Also, I just want to reference Tadpole Shrimp, which you guys have a video on (It's awesome btw), they're very interesting because they pretty much look like their larval stages their whole lives. I guess that's part of what makes them so primitive and ancient?

I highly encourage anyone who is interested in barnacles to go look up pictures of their larval stages, they look pretty neat. The Nauplius stage was shown here, but not the Cyprid stage.

[marcbutler]

Cleaning boat hulls gave me a healthy respect for barnacles. I've taken over a ton of them and black mussel off individual vessels at a time. Hard work. Respect the barnacle.

[wanderingbufoon]

So in spongebob, when they call someone a barnacle, theyre saying that theyre ass hats as they burrow head first and moon everyone

[johnhiggs]

Two of my duties as a crab boat deckhand were to clean pots and twice a year scrape barnacles off the hull. The smell was absolutely the worst! Twice I was cut by shells which required antibiotics to heal.

[AnomalocarisWizard]

2:10 Didn't know barnecel where this well packed

[oldarus]

I grew up on the east coast of Florida, what this video doesn't tell you is that barnacles slice you up like razors. they attach to the docks and boats and you learn real fast to spot them.

[laurancevantas]

I drew them on a rock in one of my mermaid drawings in middle school. I wish I knew where it went, I was proud of that thing.

[Ganondorfdude]

The reason why the myth of goose barnacles transforming into barnacle geese lasted for so long was because it was a convenient way of getting around the Catholic prohibition of eating meat on Friday. If the barnacle goose was just the adult form of a barnacle, it was "technically a fish" and therefore could be eaten on Friday.

[ConcededIndividual]

I have trypophobia and this video was actually quite refreshing on how knowledgeable it was. I still had to skip parts of the video and I have goosebumps all over, but the video was very well done!

[michaelsimko]

I've been familiar with barnacles for my entire life, but never knew many of the facts. Thanks for the video.
Have you ever done a video of fiddler crabs?

[azazeltheundyingdamienkali]

Personally, I think barnacles are kind of cute. But, then again, I also think Metroids are adorable when they're not trying to eat you, so who the hell knows if that's even a valid opinion?