Barnacles On Whales
Have you ever wondered why barnacles live on whales?
These marine creatures cling on to a whale's body, hitchhiking around the ocean feeding as they go. They have truly amazing adaptations to ensure the survival of their species, from mobile, water-borne barnacle larvae to adult barnacles with their protective hard shells.
For answers to your questions about whales and barnacles, you should carry on reading.
Why Do Barnacles Grow On Whales?
Barnacles are types of marine crustaceans that are related to lobsters and crabs. There are many different barnacle species found all over the world. They can be found firmly attached to rocks, ship hulls, and even living on marine animals, such as whales and sea turtles. But why do whales have barnacles?
Why Do Barnacles Live On Whales?
Barnacles and whales have a type of symbiotic relationship called obligate commensalism. In symbiotic relationships, two different species cooperate with benefits to both parties, it's a survival tactic that is used by many animals and plants.
In the symbiotic relationship between whales and barnacles, it is only the barnacles that reap the benefits of being attached to the whale.
The whales provide the lucky barnacles with somewhere to live and access to food but don't get much out of this relationship.
A marine biologist thought that barnacles may be useful when the male whales fight as the barnacle shells provide a hard and sharp coat which may give them an advantage in this situation.
You can easily spot barnacles on whales, look for the white areas surrounded by orange-colored patches.
In case you are wondering about their longevity, barnacles' lives aren't very long. Barnacles die after about five to ten years or sooner if they detach from the whale's body.
How Do Barnacles Attach To Whales?
Barnacles start off life as microscopic larvae, as do many other species of oceanic invertebrates, floating around on currents. You may wonder how barnacles find a whale to attach to right?
Filter-feeding whales or baleen whales, like gray whales, feed on plankton near the surface of the ocean so it is likely that the barnacle larvae encounter the gentle giants whilst they're eating, though it is not clear exactly how the barnacle larvae find the whales.
It's thought that barnacles may have evolved to coordinate their breeding season with that of the whales. Whales migrate to shallow waters, moving more slowly during these times so it's thought that when the whale swims close to the spawning barnacles, the drifting larvae can then embed into the passing whale's skin.
The barnacle larvae then produce calcareous plates that construct a shell that's formed from six calcium carbonate wall plates that are interlocking. The barnacle shell protects their soft bodies, and they then form tube-shaped cavities inside, that firmly anchor the barnacle to the whale's body.
What Do Barnacles Eat?
Barnacles don't eat the whale's flesh, they are in fact filter-feeders.
Barnacles attach themselves to certain areas of the whale in preference to others.
Since they eat by filter-feeding, barnacles benefit from living on places where there is a consistent flow of water, such as the on the whale's head, back, tail flukes, and fins.
When the whales swim through plankton-rich waters the barnacles can also feed on the plankton.
Barnacles have feet that are fan-shaped and they use them to sweep up the plankton from the ocean water. The barnacles benefit further from living on whales as they are better protected from predators, such as whelks.
Do Barnacles Hurt Whales?
Although you might think that barnacles are parasites, they don't hurt the whales, as true parasites would. They also don't give the whale massive advantages in terms of survival.
The orange-colored patches that form around the barnacles are actually the whale lice. It is thought that barnacles may provide helpful lice with a spot to cling to without being washed away.
Like barnacles, whale lice are another hitchhiker, eating bits of dead whale skin and tissues, which is of benefit to the whale. Whale lice can spread to baby whales from their mother and sometimes to get rid of whale lice and barnacles, whales rub on the sea bottom to scrape them off if they get too annoying.
There are some possible negative consequences of barnacles such as the potential of skin infections developing if they attach to the whale's skin too deeply.
Barnacle scars can also be left on the host whale after the barnacles die and fall off or if the whales rub them off. A whale with loads of barnacles might also experience some drag when swimming.
Do All Whales Have Barnacles?
There are many different barnacle species, over a thousand in fact.
Just as there are lots of whale species, there are also plenty of whale barnacle species. The number of barnacles on individual whales will vary between animals.
Whale barnacles aren't the same as regular barnacles found on coastal rocks, whale barnacles are types of acorn barnacles belonging to the family called Coronulidae.
Most whale barnacle species are actually unique to the whale species they live on.
For example, one species, the Coronula diadema barnacle inhabits humpback whale skin, whilst the Crytolepas rhachianecti barnacles lives on gray whale skin. Barnacles are usually attached to baleen whales like gray whales, right whales, and humpback whales, and occasionally toothed whales like sperm whales.
Gray whales can end up hosting hundreds of pounds of barnacles whereas a single humpback whale can carry a thousand pounds of them! Imagine carrying that much extra weight! Since humpback whales are extremely large, lugging those extra pounds around doesn't actually bother them.
Turtles and manatees also have barnacles attached to them, though these barnacles are of a different species than those attached to whales.
Final Thoughts
Whale barnacles have adapted and evolved to live on the skin of whales. The whale's skin has its own little ecosystem for these small creatures, along with other animals such as whale lice.
If you are ever lucky enough to go whale watching and spot some species of baleen whales, don't forget to keep an eye out for these fascinating crustaceans, look for the white areas surrounded by orange-colored patches.
The post Barnacles On Whales appeared first on Surf Researcher.