About Lepas anatifera Linnaeus, 1758
Lepas anatifera Linnaeus, 1758 has a body (called a capitulum) supported by a long, flexible stalk known as a peduncle. Its capitulum bears five smooth, translucent plates; these plates are edged with scarlet, separated by narrow gaps, marked with growth lines parallel to their margins, and have a small number of faint radial sculpture lines. Inside the capitulum, the barnacle has a head, a thorax, and a vestigial abdomen. Several brown, filamentous feeding tentacles called cirri project out from between the plates. The tough peduncle is purplish-brown in color. The capitulum can grow up to 5 centimetres (2.0 in) long, while the peduncle ranges in length from 4 centimetres (1.6 in) to 80 centimetres (31 in). This species has a cosmopolitan distribution, and is found in tropical and subtropical seas across the globe. It often attaches to objects carried into colder seas by currents, such as the North Atlantic Drift, so it is frequently found far from its native range, even in waters too cold for it to reproduce. Through this mechanism, it has been recorded in Norway, the Shetland Islands, the Faeroe Islands, Iceland, and Spitsbergen.
