The larvae of Pollicipes pollicipes were succesfully reared in the laboratory and their morphological characteristics described and compared to the previously described P. polymerus. Attempts to induce apparently healthy cyprids to settle in quantity, using methodology commonly employed for balanomorph barnacles, were unsuccessful indicating the lack of some major settlement cue(s). The scalpellids P. pollicipes and Capitulum mitella were shown able to voluntarily relocate, with measured speeds of up to 50 gm d'', but the lepadid Lepas anatifera cannot do so. The scalpellids used different mechanisms for relocation although both involved growth and sloughing of basal integument. A stimulus for directed travel was not found but gravity and unidirectional flow were rejected. The cement of lepadomorphs was shown to dissolve very slowly in sterile seawater. Cement in flowing seawater tanks, or in the presence of bacterial isolates collected from the cement, or in the presence of protease concentrated from bacterial cultures, did not dissolve at faster rates, to that of sterile cement, than could be explained by the sample sizes. The proteinaceous cement of P. pollicipes was delivered as a liquid in nl quantities over a period of 5-20 minutes before curing which took around 2 hours. Cement masses cured in seawater were found to be zoned due to a variable volume of space within, whilst cement delivered and cured in air or nitrogen was homogeneous. It was determined that the more porous inner zone of cement masses was inhibited from curing fully as a result of an inability to displace water. The partially cured zone could be induced to cure fully, by heating to dryness from a minimal volume of water. The presence of water was determined to be essential for curing. Differential degrees of curing of cement masses allowed for various physical and histochemical treatments which support both the rejection of disulphide bonding and phenol tanning and the growing evidence of hydrophobic complexing as central to the solidification mechanism of barnacle cement.

A print copy of this title is available from University of Oregon's Oregon Institute of Marine Biology library, under the call number: OIMB QL444.C58 H45 2004 / 106 p. OIMB MS Thesis / Gooseneck barnacles, Pollicipes polymerus, form clusters in the mid-upper rocky intertidal on exposed coasts of the northeast Pacific. Clusters compete for space, losing only to mussels, Mytilus californianus, and larvae settle gregariously on adults. By tagging juveniles with calcein, I studied recruitment and growth of juveniles in large and small clusters and on solitary adults. Recruitment was patchy; many adults contained no recruits, and three adults in each cluster contained 47 % of recruits. More juveniles per adult were found on edges than centers of clusters, and juveniles on edges grew faster than those on the inside of clusters. There was no effect of cluster size on recruitment or growth. Solitary adults had more recruits than clusters, and juveniles on solitaries grew faster than those from clusters. These results imply solitaries should quickly grow into clusters, and clusters accrete from their edges. These patterns may help Pollicipes compete with mussels.

Gooseneck Barnacles are a delicacy in Spain and Portugal and a species harvested for subsistence or commercial fishing across their global range. They are ubiquitous on the Oregon coastline and grow in dense aggregation in the intertidal zone. Reproductive biology of the species makes them particularly susceptible to overfishing, and in the interest of sustainability, aquaculture was explored as one option to supply a commercial product without impacting local ecological communities. A novel aquaculture system was developed and tested that caters to the unique feeding behavior of Pollicipes polymerus. Modified feeds of bio-enhanced rotifers and a blend of up-cycled commercial fish byproduct were administered to barnacles of three different size classes. Growth and propagule potential were tracked in the culture tanks. In addition, a separate experiment was performed to investigate various biometrics associated with feed efficiencies and nutritive content to assess the overall sustainability of this aquaculture system.