. The Canadian field-naturalist. 42 The Canadian Field-Naturalist [Vol. XXXVIII Specimens taken from the floats of a boat-house, where they were never uncovered by the tide, kept on opening their valves and protruding their cirri for some time after being taken from the water. About the middle of April enormous numbers of young barnacles, in the free-swimming stage, are to be seen in the water. Occasionally they are so plentiful that they look like clouds of dust floating near the surface. These are evidently the young of Balanus cario- sus, as within a short time of their appear- a n c e all
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 42 The Canadian Field-Naturalist [Vol. XXXVIII Specimens taken from the floats of a boat-house, where they were never uncovered by the tide, kept on opening their valves and protruding their cirri for some time after being taken from the water. About the middle of April enormous numbers of young barnacles, in the free-swimming stage, are to be seen in the water. Occasionally they are so plentiful that they look like clouds of dust floating near the surface. These are evidently the young of Balanus cario- sus, as within a short time of their appear- a n c e all the rocks in the lit- toral zone are covered with them, and they soon develop the little star- like shell which is characteristic of that species. A variety of Balanus rostra- tus is found be- yond the lit- toral zone, but a few Email spe- cimens have been collected here during the lowest tides ; they are found only i n well- protected situa- tions where there is a dense growth of sea- weed. Only one lit- toral species of pedunculate, or goose, barnacle has been found on the western coast of North America, and none on the eastern coast. This barnacle, Mytella polymerus, grows here in dense groups at about two feet above the lowest tide mark. Their favorite station is in narrow clefts in the rocks where they are at least partly protected from the action of drift-wood, but are well washed by the tide. They do not grow where there is seaweed, but are frequently grouped with the mussel, Mylilus edulis. They have a habit of opening their valves and protrud- ing their cirri as soon as they are splashed by the. Figure 1. Balanus cariosus. Photograph % first waves of the incoming tide. The specimens found here do not seem to reach their greatest size, as they rarely exceed four or five inches in length. There is another barnacle found here which might easily escape the notice of collectors, owing to its small size. This is Chthamalus dalli var. The usual size of this species is from 6
Size: 1438px × 1738px
Photo credit: © Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorottawafieldnaturalist, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920
