Gooseneck Barnacles

Weird looking thing isn't it?! Kinda looks like a cross between a dinosaur toe and a mushroom! But then I have a strange imagination!

So what are they and what's so cool about them? Well, you just know I'm going to tell you don't you!

Gooseneck barnacles, Pollicipes polymerus, have the characteristics of the more common volcano-type barnacles (the ones that attach to the bottom of your boat), in that they are both filter feeders, capable of living rather high in the intertidal, being hermaphroditic (don't need a partner for sex), cross fertilizers (share gametes when they do find a partner), and having numerous planktonic larvae (kick the kids out of the neighbourhood as soon as they are born). They differ from regular barnacles in that their bodies are on top of a permanently attached stalk covered with a thick skin.

They tend to reproduce in summer with 3-7 broods per year. A unique thing about the planktonic larva of this species is that when it settles out of the plankton it generally crawls around, hunting for adults of its species before adhering to a solid substrate. This explains why single goosenecks are rarely seen--even when there is empty space on the rock there are always hundreds of goosenecks crowded together in rounded hummocks.

They can live 20 years, or more. As they grow they make new calcareous plates protecting their bodies. When first secreted, these plates are shiny and pearlescent. After repeated high tides and battering waves (with sand and rocks), the pearly shells become pitted and dull.

This stalk is a wonderful seafood (no guts inside) and tastes much like clam when steamed (or so I'm told). They fetch a pretty penny in Spain where they are considered a delicacy! West Coast Barnacles join local varieties from the tidal regions of the Spanish coast as the most expensive seafood product in Spain -- demand for the delicacy is especially high in restaurants around Christmas-time. Who knew a dinosaur toe could taste good?

Last growth spurt on February 12, 2008