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A morphological comparative approach of different Barnacle species in Gullmarfjord with special focus on the cirripeds

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Abstract

As a basis for understanding the sympatric occurrence of the balanomorph Semibalanus balanoides, Bala- nus balanus, Balanus improvisus and the verrucomorph Verruca stroemia in the eulittoral and deepwater in Gullmarfjord, we examined the cirral activity and structural morphology of the cirri. All Barnacles showed a rythmical cirral extension of the first three cirripedia, that function as a filter for plankton and detritus. Whereas the cirri of the Balanomorpha built a collective filtration net, also single cirri of the first three cir- ripedia of Verruca stroemia were directed to the mouth orifice. The last three cirri in all examined species functioned as a comb, carrying captured food from the first three cirri to the mouth. As the food spectrum shows no broad differences cirral activity may have little effect on the sympatric occurrence.
... These organisms are called epibiotic if they live or grow attached to other living organisms (called "basibionts"), such as corals, shelled mollusks, decapod crustaceans, sea turtles and cetaceans (Wahl, 1989;Ramos-Rivera et al., 2021;Ten et al., 2022). The most common epibionts include cirripedes (Crustacea, Cirripedia), which exhibit high diversity (Bille and Spitzner, 2021) and live in a great variety of natural (and also artificial) substrates, including rocky shores, mangroves, deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps (Darwin, 1854;Anderson and Underwood, 1994;Chan et al., 2021). Cirripedes are also often the dominant component of biofouling on hard substrates (both natural and artificial), as they are perfectly adapted to sessile life. ...
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Epibiont communities can be used as useful ecological indicators, providing information on the ecology and health conditions of their hosts. In this study, we analyzed the cirriped community from a total of 117 dead specimens of Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) collected in the north Adriatic between the years 2020 and 2022. We recorded a total of six different species distributed in five genera of cirripeds. The two most abundant species were Chelonibia testudinaria (Linnaeus, 1758) and Platylepas hexastylos (Linnaeus, 1758), located in different areas of the body; the former mainly on the carapace, while the latter mainly on the skin. We analyzed their abundance and distribution pattern on the sea turtle’s body and used the findings to deduce the health conditions and ecological aspects of stranded specimens of C. caretta, providing new data on this threatened and vulnerable species and its epibionts. A total of 11 specimens of C. caretta were affected by DTS (Debilitative Turtle Syndrome), these specimens exhibited a significant barnacle infestation on all body parts, markedly higher than the specimens of C. caretta not affected by DTS. Studies of associated barnacles in sea turtles should be encouraged among researchers as complementary tool to infer habitat use and health status of sea turtle species.
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