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Barnacle mating adaptations have been fascinating biologists since Darwin. Most barnacles have a long penis, extending up to eight body lengths to reach nearby partners. Recent publications by Marjan Barazandeh and Richard Palmer (UAlberta) show gooseneck barnacles (Pollicipes polymerus), inhabiting the wave-swept intertidal habitat have evolved a number of novel mating strategies to compensate for ‘unusually short’ penises. Video of mating gooseneck barnacles in the intertidal. |
“Novel mating modes on wave‑swept shores: aerial copulation and sperm release in an intertidal stalked barnacle”. Barazandeh & Palmer, 2915
“Something Darwin didn’t know about barnacles: spermcast mating in a common stalked species”. Barazandeh et al. 2015
