Friends, have you found that there are always many gray-white spots on the jumping whale, and even these spots have become the symbol of the whale, but in fact, these things are parasitic barnacles on the whale.
Many people think that barnacles are plants, but in fact it is an arthropod with a calcareous shell, often forming dense communities, they are one of the important representatives of crustaceans, the world's most widely distributed and numerous marine fouling organisms.
Barnacles can be broadly divided into two categories: "sessile" and "sessile". Members of the Barnaclidae family, for example, have soft bodies surrounded by multiple calcareous shells that look like miniature "small volcanoes", while members of the Lepadidae family have calcareous shell plates connected and supported by fat, soft handles. After each peeling of barnacles, they will secrete a very sticky gum, fixing themselves on hard planes such as reefs, and some barnacles directly plant themselves on the skin of some marine animals in order to survive better.
For example, the larvae of whale barnacles have long grown a base disc at the bottom with patterns such as those on expansion screws - relying on these patterns, whale barnacles can be buried in the part of the whale's skin, and then they continue to grow radial siding, and unite with each other, thus enveloping the whale's skin tissue within its siding, further strengthening the anchoring effect. In addition to this, they rely on their siding panels to continue to "dig" deep into the whale's skin, allowing themselves to be firmly embedded in the whale's skin.
The structure of the whale barnacles and the way they are embedded in the skin of the whale
Whale barnacles are most rooted in the head of the whale, which is like the first class cabin of a cruise ship – the most abundant food supply due to the direct impact of the water.
But whether it is adhered to the reef or on the skin of animals, this way of survival also makes them unable to move freely, so they are often mistaken for plants.
Barnacles are hermaphrodite, but mostly allogeneic fertilization, and in warm marine environments, they generally reproduce throughout the year, while in colder environments, reproduction shows seasonality. How does an immovable barnacles snap?
Barnacles don't move, and to multiply, achieving mating is a very real challenge. Through this method of "fragrant butterflies", barnacles will release chemical pheromones and attract more of the same species of larvae to settle around in order to maximize the chance of mating and reproduction. It has to be said that "annual cultivation" is also a very important reproductive choice in the biosphere.
In order to be able to reproduce, the evolution of super-long tintin, barnacles of tintin can be extended to 8 times the body length, which is currently the longest proportion of genitalia in the animal kingdom compared to itself, converted into a human, not only can be wrapped around the waist, but also wrapped in clothes.
And the barnacles of tintin can freely change the length, size, and in the season of reproduction, the barnacles will begin to think about whether they are fathers or mothers, and if they decide to be mothers, then it will release the eggs into the shell, and then release the charming pheromones.
The barnacles that decide to be fathers can be stretched up to eight times the length of the body, and they will also release chemical signals to receive signals from female pheromones, and then find the females that release pheromones, shoot genes into each other's coat cavity, and fertilize the eggs.
After mating, the barnacles degenerate and re-grow in the next mating season. In addition, the external environment will also affect the appearance of barnacles. Studies have found that in environments where there is more need to combat wave disturbances, the butter base of barnacles is larger in diameter (that is, thicker); if the barnacles are slightly farther apart, the barnacles will grow longer than if they are crowded together. The purpose of this is to better reach the mating object.
Scientists feel the most strange is the Pacific gooseneck barnacles, scientists in the observation of gooseneck barnacles found that even if its tintin stretched 8 times, or too far away from the object, but every time the object can get pregnant near there is no next door lao wang, the gooseneck barnacles that play the role of "female" do not have self-fertilization.
Later, after careful study, scientists found that barnacles discharge sticky genes into the sea quite regularly, so it is possible that at high tide, the sea water rushes above the male barnacles, bringing up sperm clumps and subsequently transporting them to the barnacles below.
This study overturns the stereotype of barnacles by scientists in the past, and is of great significance to biological research. In summary, scientists' research on barnacles' reproductive behavior has positive implications in marine environmental protection and marine ecology, in addition to which the planktonic larvae of barnacles are a high-quality bait. The study of the reproductive system of barnacles can also provide a certain scientific basis for the development of a high-quality bait for the aquaculture industry. At present, there is little research on this aspect in the country, and it can be said that detailed information in this regard is needed.
In addition, the study of the reproductive system of barnacles can better understand its structure, and today, with the in-depth study of the adhesion components of barnacles, anti-adhesion coatings have also been developed to reduce the economic loss of shipping. At the same time, because barnacles are sensitive to polluting seawater and their ability to enrich heavy metals, scientists have tried to use them to detect the marine environment.
Reference Papers:
1. Wang Yilei, "A Preliminary Study on the Male Reproductive System of Barnacles and Scaly Barnacles"
2. Ed. Tuo Nanshan. Crustacean Zoology (Volume 1): Beijing:Science Press, 1987.279-296
3. Ren Tian's "Barnacles Breeding"
4、Christine Dell'Amore《National Geographic Barnacles Leak Sperm Into Ocean, Upending Mating Theory》
5. Yan Tao, Cao Wenhao, Yan Wenxia, Dong Yu, "A Method for Cultivating Reticulated Barnacle Venus Larvae in Large Quantities"