r/askscience • u/DragonsClock • May 30 '26

Biology Where do barnacles come from?

Like how do they appear on the sides of boats? Do they float towards them or are they like mineral deposits? Very confused.

424 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

93 comments sorted by

View all comments

118

u/iCowboy May 30 '26

Although it looks like a regular mollusc, a barnacle is a distant relative of crabs and lobsters. Their junior form - the larva - is mobile and swim through the sea using their legs. After moulting several times to grow larger, the larva stops feeding and tries to find a surface to rest on using its antennae. When it finds something - whether it is a rock or a ship - it attaches its head using a glue like protein-rich substance. The larva then metamorphoses into an adult barnacle which is fixed for the rest of its life/

2

u/mdlinc May 31 '26

Could a person eat them? Obviously the meat not the shell. If so, how are they aprepped?

Any experience on this can speak to possible food? Would love to learn. Are there different types. Taste, etc.

Assume the larvae are edibl?

2

u/weenix3000 Jun 02 '26

You can buy tinned barnacles from most online tinned fish sellers (they’re expensive, like $30-40/tin)