Conchoderma virgatum
| Conchoderma virgatum | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Thecostraca |
| Subclass: | Cirripedia |
| Order: | Scalpellomorpha |
| Family: | Lepadidae |
| Genus: | Conchoderma |
| Species: | C. vergatum
|
| Binomial name | |
| Conchoderma vergatum Spengler, 1789[1]
| |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Conchoderma vergatum is a species of goose barnacle in the family Lepadidae.
Description
Conchoderma vergatum has a flexible, flattened, scale-less peduncle (stalk) which is attached to a solid surface, and a capitulum (body) with five smooth, four-sided plates, widely separated from each other and not clearly demarcated from the peduncle. The total length of this goose barnacle is about 70 mm (2.8 in), half of which is the peduncle. Overall, the colour is grey, but there are some dark purplish-brown longitudinal streaks.[2]
Distribution
Conchoderma vergatum has a cosmopolitan distribution, being found in all the world's oceans attached to a wide range of drifting objects.[3]
Ecology
Conchoderma vergatum is found attached to a wider range of floating objects and nekton than members of the Lepas genus. It seems to have evolved from the same common ancestry as Conchoderma auritum, which occurs on whales, and Alepas which occur on jellyfish, and possibly from the same stock as the dogfish parasite Alepas.[3]
References
- ^ a b Chan, Benny K.K. (2018). "Conchoderma virgatum Spengler, 1789". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ^ M. van Couwelaar. "Conchoderma vergatum". Zooplankton and Micronekton of the North Sea. Marine Species Identification Portal. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ^ a b Newman, William A.; Ross, Arnold (1971). Antarctic Cirripedia: Monographic Account Based on Specimens Collected Chiefly Under the United States Antarctic Research Program, 1962-1965. American Geophysical Union. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-0-87590-114-5.