Six-plated Barnacles

Description:

The Six-plated Barnacle is a medium-sized barnacle with six non-porous, main shell plates.The exterior is dirty white to grey. On some, the shell tips have eroded, and this forms a small, shiny white area which has the appearance of tooth enamel. The amount of abrasion and weathering or wearing from the environment has a lot to do with the appearance of the shell. Barnacles are arthropods, in the same major group as insects and spiders, and are most closely related to decapod crabs, prawns, lobsters and yabbies. NB: The larger barnacles (bottom left) in the primary photograph are Rose-coloured Barnacles (Tesseropora rosea).

Habitat:

Occurs on most exposed rocky ocean shores exposed to high energy waves, at mid to low-tide levels. It prefers heavy wave action and spray. On some vertical rock faces it may be found in large numbers. These were spotted on the rocks at North Avoca Beach on the NSW Central Coast.

Notes:

Heavy wave action this particular day but crystal clear water.