Image: Goose Barnacle Illustration
Goose Barnacles have a long rubbery stalk about 3.5 cm in length. They have five plates or shells that protect the body and feathery limbs called 'cirri'.
- Illustrator:
- Andrew Howells
- Rights:
- © Australian Museum
- Common name:
- Goose Barnacle
- Scientific name:
- Lepas australis
Additional information
Goose Barnacles have a long rubbery stalk about 3.5 cm in length. They have five plates or shells that protect the body and feathery limbs called 'cirri'.
Goose Barnacles live in the southern oceans around Australia and New Zealand. They are found on objects floating in the sea.
Goose Barnacles eat plankton. Goose Barnacles poke their feathery cirri out of their shells and use them to push water towards their mouth.
Fish and birds eat Goose Barnacles.
Goose Barnacles get their common name from their feathery cirri that look a bit like the feathers of a bird. When the barnacles drifted ashore attached to logs it was thought that they were the eggs of geese.
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Tags wild, kids, goose, barnacle, illustration, sea, ocean,
