Common Name: Short-stalked Goose Barnacle

Distribution: Common throughout the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Circumtropical, present in all of the worlds temperate and tropical seas.

Ecological Notes: A pelagic species which attaches to floating objects, ships hulls and marine animals such as turtles and whales.

Additional Notes: The barnacle is enclosed in six white plates supported by a tough, flexible, orange stalk or peduncle. The cirri, feathery appendages, are extended rhythmically into the water column to collect zooplankton and detritus upon which it feeds. Body length to 5 cm, stalk length to 4 cm.

References: Graham J. Edgar. Tropical Marine Life of Australia, 2019. New Holland Publishers Pty Ltd. p. 138.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Lepas+%28anatifa%29+anserifera. Accessed 26/09/2019.