Biodiversity & Conservation

An acorn barnacle - Balanus crenatus - General information

Balanus crenatus

Image Keith Hiscock - Balanus crenatus. Image width ca 10 cm.
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Distribution map

Balanus crenatus recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

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Balanus crenatus is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Nicola White Text page icon Refereed by: Prof. Alan J. Southward

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Arthropoda Arthropods, joint-legged animals, e.g. insects, crustaceans & spiders
Class Maxillopoda Barnacles, copepods and fish lice
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland All coasts of Britain & Ireland, and offshore in the North Sea and Celtic Sea.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Balanus crenatus is primarily a sublittoral species that can sometimes be found under stones or overhangs on the lower shore. Balanus crenatus colonizes cobbles, shells, bedrock, molluscs and artificial substrata. It is found at a wide range of wave exposures and it can tolerate salinities as low as 14 psu.
Text page icon Description Balanus crenatus is one of the most common sublittoral barnacles in Britain. It has six shell plates and grows up to 25 mm in diameter. The upper edge of the shell plates are usually toothed and the shell is inclined to one end when viewed in profile. It usually lives for around 18 months.

This review can be cited as follows:

Nicola White 2004. Balanus crenatus. An acorn barnacle. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 04/02/2012]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=2718>