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Pelagic Gooseneck Barnacle, Smooth Gooseneck Barnacle
Lepas anatifera
17.6169, -63.2535
Field Notes
Description:
The body or capitulum of Lepas anatifera is supported by a long, flexible stalk or peduncle. There are five smooth, translucent plates, edged with scarlet and separated by narrow gaps. The plates have growth lines parallel with their margins and a few faint radial sculpture lines. Inside the capitulum, the barnacle has a head and thorax and vestigial abdomen. A number of brown, filamentous cirri or feeding tentacles project from between the plates. The peduncle is tough and a purplish-brown colour. The capitulum can grow to a length of 5 centimetres and the peduncle varies between 4 centimetres and 80 centimetres.
Habitat:
At the coast of the Caribbean Sea at the foot of the island Saba (which is actually a Volcano )
Notes:
They are also called Percebes, known as goose barnacles in English, are a Galician delicacy from Spain and are among the most exclusive seafood in Europe. Customers in Spain and Portugal pay up to 200 Euros per kilo for superb quality Percebes. This extraordinary price results from the extreme circumstances in which the rare barnacles are harvested from the rocky cliffs off the Galician coast.
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