#acorn barnacles

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Common Acorn Barnacles on Call

Semibalanus balanoides, more commonly known as the common acorn barnacle or the northern acorn barnacle, is a widespread species of barnacle found all along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America and the intertidal zone of Europe-- though it is notably absent from the Bay of Biscay. Its range is limited by the temperature of the water in which it breeds; in the winter, they require water as cold as 7.2 °C (45.0 °F), but throughout the rest of the year they can tolerate much warmer climates.

Like many barnacle species, S. balanoides is hermaphroditic, meaning it has both male and female reproductive organs. Once the water reaches the optimal temperature, typically in November or December, the barnacles begin to breed. An individual will reach out with a penis that can be up to 7.5 centimetres (3.0 in), and inseminate a nearby barnacle; this process may be repeated up to eight times between a single pair. After insemination, the penis disintegrates to be regrown the following year.

In the meantime, the fertilized barnacle will produce up to 10,000 eggs that are stored in a special sac within the shell cavity. The common acorn barnacle releases its eggs between February and April, in concert with warming waters and the spring algal bloom. The eggs then hatch into miniscule larvae, which spend several weeks feeding on plankton in the water column and going through a series of molts. Following the sixth molt, the larvae stops feeding and seeks out a suitable place on which to anchor itself. Once it has found a surface, the larval barnacle 'crawls' along the surface until it encounters one of its own species. At this point, they will attach themselves with a cement-like glue which is capable of supporting up to 3,200 kg (7,000 lbs) Here, a single northern acorn barnacle may live anywhere from one to seven years.

Adult S. balanoides are identified by the white, six-sided limestone casing with which they protect themselves. However, one unique feature of this species is the way in which they attach themselves to their chosen surfaces; unlike other barnacles, which have a hard calcified shell base, the northern acorn barnacle has a membranous base. Within their shells, they have rather soft bodies, including a set of feathered appendages called cirri with which they use to breathe and collect food.

The common acorn barnacle is a filter feeder, consuming microscopic plankton and bits of detritus from the water column. Though their hard shells deter most predators, adults are vulnerable to other predatory invertebrates like dogwelks, nudibranches, and sea stars, as well as fish like the shanny that are specialist feeders of barnacles.

Conservation status: The common acorn barnacle has not been assessed by the IUCN. The species is extremely common and very resilient, and in fact has been in existence since the Jurassic period. However, rising ocean temperatures may negatively affect their breeding period.

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Photos

Neil DeMaster

Oregon State Parks and Recreation

Kim Hanson via Wikimedia commons

[sandpaperoctopi]

barnacle and bryozoans

[critter-creature-or-beast]

Image 1 by hprice321, CC-BY-NC

Image 2 by l3erdnik, CC-BY-NC

[rhywhitefang]

ENDLICH SIND DIE INNER SHADOW REFS FERTIG AHHH

Hoffentlich dauern die devils call references nicht so lange lol

[faggotfungus]

"Life Magnified" U.S. postage stamp depicting acorn barnacle (2023)

[lifeinterconnected]

New England tidepool life

(8/23/24)

[graveyardrabbit]

[bethanythebogwitch]

We’re getting French in this entry in my series where I cover the origins of every aquatic Pokémon not based on a fish because its gen VI time! For previous entries in this series see gen I part 1, gen I part 2, gen II, gen III, gen IV, and gen V. For the previous series where I cover all the fish Pokémon, see here. As before, starters and legendaries/mythicals will be saved for their own posts.

We only just started and I want to stop because it’s the Binacle line. By Arceus these things are hideous. That kind of fits though, because they’re based on goose barnacles, which aren’t exactly lookers themselves. I previously discussed barnacles here, but in short, they are filter-feeding crustaceans that incase themselves in hard shells that they will stay in for life. Goose barnacles differ from the more common acorn barnacles because they attach to rocks or other hard surfaces via a thick, muscular stalk.

(image: goose barnacles)

Binacle’s shell is expanded to look like a hand with the face in it. Because two binnacle live together on the same rock they seem to be a case of intraspecific symbiosis, as opposed to the more common intraspecific symbiosis. Barbaracle is seven barnacles living together on two rocks, where they now take a humanoid shape. It retains the goose barnacle inspiration but now I think it also takes inspiration from mecha stories where multiple smaller mechs can combine into a larger one, such as in Voltron. In addition, the non-head barnacles are reduced to a single hand with an eye in the palm, which could reference the hamsa, a common symbol in North Africa and the Middle East.

(image: a hamsa)

Clauncher and Clawitzer are based on pistol shrimp. These shrimp, members of the family Alpheidae, are known for their asymmetrical claws which they can use to create jets of water and a large snapping sound. The large claw has a chamber within it. When the claw is opened, water will rush into the chamber. The claw can then be snapped shut to pressurize the water enough to create a cavitation bubble and a light emission called sonoluminescence. The pressure forces the water out of the chamber with enough speed and pressure to kill small fish. The whole process takes less than a millisecond and produces a loud snapping sound. The shrimp use the snapping for communication and hunting. They will wait for fish to swim close, then shoot water at them to stun or kill them. Clauncher’s method of powering its water jets is different. It uses controlled release of internal gas. In addition, it uses the water jets to move around and hunt. It is said to shoot flying Pokémon out of the air with its water jets, probably a reference to how the archerfish will knock insects out of the air by spitting water at them. In both the real shrimp and the Pokémon, the claws will grow back if severed. There’s a lot more cool stuff about pistol shrimp I could go over but they aren’t really relevant to Clauncher and I think I’ll save hem for a future Wet Beast Wednesday post.

(image: a pistol shrimp)

I debated whether or not I should count the Goomy line as aquatic or not but I decided I will because it lives in swamps and will die if it dries out, so I will. Also I just can’t say no to Goomy. The line are based on slugs and a French legendary creature called Lou Carcolh that was said to be a slimy serpent or dragon with hairy tentacles and a large shell.

(image: a depiction of Lou Carcolh from the blog A Book of Creatures. Check it out, its cool)

Lou Carcolh was a malevolent creature that would grab people with its tentacles and drag them in to devour them. This line is much friendlier. They are likely a combination of land and sea slugs, likely nudibranchs due to their bright coloration. The horns they have are based on the eye stalks of the land slug and the tentacle-like rhinopores of the sea slug.

(image: a blue sea slug)

Like slugs, they are covered with a layer of slime that keeps them wet. Slugs must stay wet to survive and therefore prefers wetlands or shady areas, much like Goomy. Sliggoo is based on a semi-slug, which are intermediate gastropods between snails and slugs. They still have a shell, but it is too small for them to retract into it and in many species it is covered by the mantle, effectively making it an internal shell.

(image: a semi-slug)

In contrast to their modern counterparts, Hisuian Sliggoo and Goodra are snails. Their shells are metallic and come from living in mineral-rich waters. They are specifically based on the scaly-foot gastropod, which is a deep-sea snail which has a shell and part of its foot made of iron sulfides.

(image: the scaly-foot gastropod)

They are also likely based on shussebora, a yokai that is a trumpet shell snail that turned into a dragon after living for 1000 years each in the mountains, plains, and sea.

If you asked me if the Bergmite line was aquatic I would have said no. There is nothing in their descriptions or locations in the game that would imply they live in water. That is until Scarlet and Violet let them swim. It makes some sense, as they are based on icebergs, but it’s still a curveball after 3 generations of them living on mountains or in icy caves. But yeah, they’re icebergs, large chunks of ice that float freely in the water. Bergmite is based more specifically on the top part of the iceberg, which is much smaller than the part that remains underwater. Avalugg is based more on the submerged part of the iceberg. It is also based on a tortoise. It being compared to an aircraft carrier might reference Project Habakkuk, a plan in World War II to make an aircraft carrier out of pykrete, a combination of wood pulp and ice that is resistant to melting. They never actually did it, though.

(image: an iceberg. No I'm not using the famous iceberg picture)

With that, gen VI comes to a close. Join me next time when we head to the tropics for gen VII.

[batt00ny]

INTRODUCING THE PLAYGROUND BRACKET!

We still have time between polls waiting for results, so to keep the blog active & tensions high, I have two sort of smaller ones before I get to the big cog employee bracket!!! [won't include managers of course, and also not bosses, they'll get their own small bracket :3]

Here are the match ups!

Match 1: Acorn Acres vs. Drowsy Dreamland [7/8] Match 2: Barnacle Boatyard vs. Ye Olde Toontowne [7/9] Match 3: Mezzo Melodyland vs. Daffodil Gardens [7/13] Match 4: The Brrrgh vs. Toontown Central [7/17]

May the best playground win!!!

[octowoman2419]

bay barnacles

a drawing of the tangotronic and rosaline/his dance partner at the beach together with the tangotronic showing rosaline a small shell with bay barnacles stuck onto it (idk if the image quality lets you see them but here is a close up on what he’s holding (trypophobia warning btw!!!))

i got this idea after i recently visited clearwater beach in tampa bay and saw shells with these weird sphere things on them (images below). i then found out they’re called barnacles, specifically the ones in the images are apparently what people call bay barnacles.

⚠️trypophobia warning!⚠️

[watchtowersbane]

random text post to make tags

(I’ll eventually start posting the quests hopefully. this will take a while!)

[montereybayaquarium]

Barnacles are excellent at hide and seek.

They spend  their adult lives in acorn-like shells and use their cirri (feathery appendages) to catch food. They’re also champions at headstands–when they’re juveniles they have a planktonic form and they drift through the water until they find a hard substrate to glue their heads to. They then form a hard shell around their bodies and spend the rest of their lives on the spot where they settled. 

Their cirri are modified crustacean legs. Imagine trying to catch food with your legs while doing a headstand. Would that count as leg day? 🤔

[bogleech]

I hope someday there's regional variants or alt evolutions for binacle and barbaracle. I love them but I need more barnacles. Or new additional barnacle pokemon. Those are goose barnacles, there needs to be acorn barnacles. And then they need to do a crab with a parasitic barnacle like a crustacean take on parasect. Parasitic barnacles arent visible on crabs as anything but a yellow sack on their junk but they can stylize it more like a normal barnacle, I don't mind

[plaguedocboi]

We put this acorn barnacle shell in the tropical tank and it has been claimed by the blennies

[mimitay-art]

Mermay day 6! Bowhead whale, acorn barnacles, and whale lice

Prompt list w/ credit under cut:

Made by critbit on instagram

[simdertalia]

🫧🐚 ACNH Tidepool Set 🦐🫧

Here is the winner of July's poll, the tidepool set! There are lots and lots of creatures, some rocks, plants, and other items to add even more to your aquariums!

Sims 4, Base game compatible | 59 items | As always, extra swatches added by me! hope you enjoy! 💗

Set contains: -Abalone | 1 swatch | 600 poly -Acorn Barnacle 1 | 6 swatches | 600 poly -Acorn Barnacle 2 (on rocks) | 6 swatches | 816 poly -Chambered Nautilus | 5 swatches | 816 poly -Clam 1-3 (3 items) | 2 swatches each | 402, & 338 poly -Flatworm | 3 swatches | 600 poly -Giant Isopod Decor | 2 swatches | 1014 poly -Hermit Crab 1 & 2 (2 items) | 4 swatches each | 804 poly each -Hermit Crab Pet | 8 swatches for lid color | 1380 poly -Hermit Crab Shell | 4 swatches | 200 poly -Horseshoe Crab | 2 swatches | 1000 poly each -Mantis Shrimp | 1 swatch | 882 poly -Mussel (single) | 3 swatches | 140 poly -Mussels (in a bunch) | 3 swatches | 830 poly -Oyster | 1 swatches | 300 poly -Oyster Knife | 6 swatches | 74 poly -Pearl Diving Pool Bars | 2 swatches | 1256 poly -Pearl Diving Sign | 8 swatches for frame color | 170 poly -Pearl Diving Table | 6 swatches | 138 poly -Pearl Oyster 1 (partial open) | 1 swatch | 602 poly -Pearl Oyster 2 (open more) | 1 swatch | 602 poly -Pearl Oyster 3 (open more, pearl inside) | 4 swatches | 644 poly -Pearl Oyster 4 (shucked, bottom half) | 1 swatch | 322 poly -Pearl Oyster 5 (shucked, bottom half with pearl) | 4 swatches | 364 poly -Pearl Oyster 6 (shucked, top half upside down) | 1 swatch | 294 poly -Pearl Oyster 7 (shucked, top half) | 4 swatches | 294 poly -Pearl Oyster 8 (shucked top half with collected pearls) | 4 swatches | 420 poly -Plant 1 | 1 swatch | 72 poly -Rocks 1-7 | 5, 3, 3, 1, 1, 3, & 3 swatches | 141, 258, 114, 218, 74, 283, & 118 poly -Scallops 1 & 2 (2 items, lying down and swimming) | 5 swatches | 604 poly -Sea Cucumber | 5 swatches | 596 poly -Sea Grapes | 2 swatches | 969 poly -Sea Pig | 3 swatches | 862 poly -Sea Pineapple 1 & 2 (2 items, #2 is on rocks) | 2 swatches | 662 & 878 poly -Sea Slug | 5 swatches | 590 poly -Sea Star 1 & 2 (2 items) | 5 swatches each | 402 poly each -Sea Urchin | 4 swatches | 602 poly -Seaweed 1 (growing) | 1 swatch | 602 poly each -Seaweed 2 (pile) | 1 swatch | 778 poly each -Sea Anemone | 5 swatches | 868 poly each -Shrimp) | 1 swatch | 598 poly each -Slate Pencil Urchin | 6 swatches | 799 poly each -Small Pool (lots of slots!) | 6 swatches | 2360 poly each -Tiger Prawn | 5 swatches | 608 poly each -Turban Shell | 1 swatch | 702 poly each -Whelk | 6 swatches | 798 poly each -Wood and Plants | 1 swatch | 4255 poly each

Type “acnh vacation" into the search query in build mode to find quickly. You can always find items like this, just begin typing the title and it will appear.

As always, please let me know if you have any issues!

📁 Download all or pick & choose (SFS, No Ads): HERE

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Will be public on July 27th, 2024 💗 Midnight CET

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