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. 2006 Mar 22;2(1):92-3.
doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2005.0409.

Larval development and settlement of a whale barnacle

Yasuyuki Nogata  1 , Kiyotaka Matsumura
Affiliations

Larval development and settlement of a whale barnacle

Yasuyuki Nogata et al. Biol Lett. .

Abstract

Larval development and settlement of whale barnacles have not previously been described, unlike intertidal barnacles. Indeed, the mechanisms of the association between barnacles and whales have not been studied. Here we describe the larval development and settlement of the whale barnacle, Coronula diadema, and possible involvement of a cue from the host in inducing larval settlement. Eight-cell stage embryos were collected from C. diadema on a stranded humpback whale, incubated in filtered seawater for 7 days, and nauplius larvae hatched out. When fed with Chaetoceros gracilis, the nauplii developed to stage VI, and finally metamorphosed to the cypris stage. The larval development looked similar to that of intertidal barnacles with planktotrophic larval stages. The cyprids did not settle in normal seawater, but did settle in polystyrene Petri dishes when incubated in seawater with a small piece of skin tissue from the host whale. This strongly suggests the involvement of a chemical cue from the host whale tissue to induce larval settlement.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Adult, embryos, larvae and juveniles of the whale barnacle, Colonula diadema. (a) Adult barnacle with a small piece of whale skin. (b) Mass of embryos at eight-cell stage. (c) Hatching nauplii (day 0). (d) Nauplius II (day 0). (e) Nauplius IV (day 4). (f) Nauplius VI (day 6). (g) Cyprid (day 7). (h) Juvenile just after metamorphosis from cyprid (day 12). (i) Juvenile (day 14). (j) Base of juvenile (day 14). (k) Juvenile (day 15). (l) Juvenile (day 18). (a) Scale bar, 10 mm; (b–l) scale bars, 100 μm.
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