Goose Barnacle

At a glance

Goose Barnacle (Lepas anserifera) is a barnacle regulated in 2 of 66 jurisdictions tracked by CatchRules across the U.S. and Canada.

Bag limits are uniform at 2 per angler across the 2 regulating jurisdictions.

Confirmed by 1,215 research-grade iNaturalist observations, with Florida, Texas, and North Carolina the top jurisdictions by observation count.

Notable details

• Medieval Europeans believed barnacle geese literally hatched from this animal.
• Unlike its close relative Lepas anatifera, it has finely toothed edges on its carina plate.
• It spends adult life attached to floating debris, drifting across the open ocean.
• It captures plankton by rhythmically extending and retracting feathery legs called cirri.
• Its fleshy stalk can flex, allowing it to orient its feeding appendages toward current flow.

Where Goose Barnacle are seen

• Florida590 iNat obs
• Texas396 iNat obs
• North Carolina64 iNat obs
• Hawaii60 iNat obs
• Alabama47 iNat obs
• Georgia14 iNat obs

Jurisdictions with rules for Goose Barnacle

• British ColumbiaCanada · official source
• Federal Waters (DFO)Canada · official source

Background

Lepas anserifera is a species of goose barnacle or stalked barnacle in the family Lepadidae. It lives attached to floating timber, ships' hulls and various sorts of flotsam.

Background excerpt adapted from Wikipedia's Goose Barnacle article (CC BY-SA). Visit Wikipedia for the full entry.

Other barnacles on CatchRules

• Bay BarnacleAmphibalanus improvisus
• Giant Acorn BarnacleBalanus nubilus
• Buoy BarnacleDosima fascicularis
• California BarnacleMegabalanus californicus