Alepas pacifica

Alepas pacifica is a species of goose barnacle in the family Heteralepadidae. It is a pelagic species and is an obligate associate of various species of jellyfish. It mainly occurs in the Pacific Ocean.

Alepas pacifica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Maxillopoda
Infraclass:
Cirripedia
Order:
Lepadiformes
Family:
Heteralepadidae
Genus:
Alepas
Species:
A. pacifica
Binomial name
Alepas pacifica
Pilsbry, 1907 [1]
Synonyms[1]
  • Alepas investigator Annandale, 1914

Description

Alepas pacifica is a whitish, translucent species of stalked barnacle. Its plates are lightweight, only partially calcified and much reduced in size.[2][3]

Distribution

Alepas pacifica is found in tropical and subtropical waters in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, its range extending from Australia and Malaysia to China, Japan and the western coast of North America. It is also known from the Atlantic Ocean.[2]

Ecology

Alepas pacifica lives in association with a jellyfish such as the ghost jellyfish Cyanea nozaki.[3] In this association it hangs from the margin of the bell. It is a similar colour to the whitish jellyfish, which makes it inconspicuous. It is a permanent resident, always associating with a jellyfish, and making use of the rich food supply in the surface waters in which the jellyfish floats.[3]

Other jellyfish which this barnacle uses as a host include Nomura's jellyfish (Nemopilema nomurai),[4] the egg-yolk jellyfish (Phacellophora camtschatica), the purple-stripe jellyfish (Chrysaora colorata), and several other scyphozoan species. In the case of the egg-yolk jellyfish, a group of barnacles may be attached to the outside of the domed top of the bell, looking rather like an article of headwear. It is not apparent that the jellyfish is disadvantaged by the presence of the barnacle.[5]

Although normally a direct symbiont of jellyfish, this barnacle has been found attached to another barnacle of its own species which was itself attached to a jellyfish. These indirectly attached individuals were small and had longer penes than their directly attached counterparts, and may have acted as dwarf males.[4]

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References
  1. Chan, Benny K.K. (2015). "Alepas pacifica - Pilsbry, 1907". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2015-06-24.
  2. Brian Morton (2000). The Marine Flora and Fauna of Hong Kong and Southern China V. Hong Kong University Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-962-209-525-0.
  3. Morton, Brian (1989). Partnerships in the Sea: Hong Kong's Marine Symbioses. Kent State University Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-962-209-211-2.
  4. Yusa, Y.; Yamato, S.; Kawamura, M.; Kubota, S. (2015). "Dwarf males in the barnacle Alepas pacifica Pilsbry, 1907 (Thoracica, Lepadidae), a symbiont of jellyfish" (PDF). Crustaceana. 88 (3): 273–282. doi:10.1163/15685403-00003414.
  5. Wrobel, David. "Hitchhikers on Gelatinous Zooplankton". The JelliesZone. Retrieved 2015-06-24.
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