1997/01/01 by Yasuyuki Nogata, Kiyotaka Matsumura, I Made Subandia · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Asian Studies and History #Balanus #Barnacle #Biology #Computer science #Crustacean #Crustacean biology and ecology #Ecology #Fishery #Intertidal zone #Larva #Legal Studies and Policies #Marine Biology and Ecology Research #Marine and coastal plant biology #Metamorphosis #Whale #Zoology
paper · doi:10.1098/rsbl.2005.0409
openalex publication_date 1997/01/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/08
Larval development and settlement of whale barnacles have not previously been described, unlike intertidal barnacles. Indeed, the mechanisms of the association between barnacles and whales have not been studied. Here we describe the larval development and settlement of the whale barnacle, Coronula diadema, and possible involvement of a cue from the host in inducing larval settlement. Eight-cell stage embryos were collected from C. diadema on a stranded humpback whale, incubated in filtered seawater for 7 days, and nauplius larvae hatched out. When fed with Chaetoceros gracilis, the nauplii developed to stage VI, and finally metamorphosed to the cypris stage. The larval development looked similar to that of intertidal barnacles with planktotrophic larval stages. The cyprids did not settle in normal seawater, but did settle in polystyrene Petri dishes when incubated in seawater with a small piece of skin tissue from the host whale. This strongly suggests the involvement of a chemical cue from the host whale tissue to induce larval settlement.