Striped Barnacle

directions_boat This is an invasive or introduced species.

With its ability to attach to almost any hard surface, this invasive barnacle is a common fouling organism in ports and marinas. It realtively large in size and can appear in great densities. The shell of this organism is usually whitish in colour, and its has a roughly rhombus-shaped aperture. One of the many similar balanid species, this one can be distinguished by its plates, which mostly feature two pale violet radial stripes in the raised section, and horizontal (concentric) ribbing in the depressed section. This species also has smooth, not serrated, margins on the oral plates, unlike Amphibalanus variegatus.