Goose barnacles, also called percebes, turtle-claw barnacles, stalked barnacles, gooseneck barnacles, are filter-feeding crustaceans that live attached to hard surfaces of rocks and flotsam in the ocean intertidal zone. Goose barnacles formerly made up the taxonomic order Pedunculata, but the group has been found to be

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

, with its members scattered across multiple orders of the infraclass Thoracica.

Biology

Some species of goose barnacles such as '' Lepas anatifera'' are pelagic and are most frequently found on tidewrack on oceanic coasts. Unlike most other types of barnacles, intertidal goose barnacles (e.g. '' Pollicipes pollicipes'' and '' Pollicipes polymerus'') depend on water motion rather than the movement of their cirri for feeding, so are found only on exposed or moderately exposed coasts.

Spontaneous generation

In the days before

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s were known to migrate, barnacle geese, ''Branta leucopsis'', were thought to have developed from this crustacean through spontaneous generation, since they were never seen to

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold Egg (biology), eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of ...

in temperate Europe, hence the English names "goose barnacle" and "barnacle goose", and the scientific name '' Lepas anserifera'' (, "goose"). The confusion was prompted by their similarities in colour and shape. Because they were often found on driftwood, the barnacles were assumed to be attached to branches before they fell in the water. The

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

of Brecon, Gerald of Wales, made this claim in his '' Topographia Hiberniae''. Since barnacle geese were thought to be "neither flesh, nor born of flesh", they were allowed to be eaten on days when eating meat was forbidden by some Christian churches, though it was not universally accepted.

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Frederick II examined barnacles and noted no evidence of any bird-like embryo in them, and the secretary of Lev of Rozmital wrote a very skeptical account of his reaction to being served the goose at a fast-day dinner in 1456.

Biomedical research

One component of'' L. anatifera'' that continues to be researched today is the adhesive properties of its secretion. Following an observational study regarding the adhesive properties of goose barnacle, its adhesive gland cells were located inside the muscle layer on the back side of the main stalk (peduncle). These glands secrete protein-based adhesive to make attaching the barnacles to fixed or mobile entities possible. This research in the barnacle adhesive serves as inspiration to the healthcare community to conduct their own research in an attempt to improve medical adhesive.

As food

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, ''P. pollicipes'' is a widely consumed and expensive delicacy known as ''percebes'', which are harvested commercially on the northern Iberian coast, mainly in Galicia and

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

, and on the southwestern Portuguese coast ( Alentejo), as well as imported from other countries within its range of distribution, particularly from

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. A larger but less palatable species (''P. polymerus'') was also exported to Spain from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

until 1999, when the Canadian government ceased exports due to depletion of stocks. In Spain, ''percebes'' are lightly boiled in brine and served whole and hot under a napkin. To eat them, the diamond-shaped foot is pinched between thumb and finger and the inner tube pulled out of the scaly case. The claw is removed and the remaining flesh is swallowed. Historically, the

indigenous peoples of California Indigenous peoples of California, commonly known as Indigenous Californians or Native Californians, are a diverse group of nations and peoples that are indigenous to the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and afte ...

ate the stem after cooking it in hot ashes.''The Natural World of the California Indians''
By Robert F. Heizer and Albert B. Elsasser. Via books.google.com, Accessed 2024-04-07

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Barnacles Edible crustaceans Seafood in Native American cuisine Arthropod common names