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More about the Northern rock
barnacle
Kicks food into its mouth
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<A HREF="semi.mov">[Watch barnacles eat!]</A>
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Cross section of a barnacle that has been drawn partly after originals
from several books.
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It is sometimes said that barnacles kick
their food into their mouths. This is true to a certain extent because they lie on their
backs in their calcareous shells, and stick their brush furnished legs
(cirria)out of the shell to catch food in the water. Their diet can
consist of small millimetre large copepods, but even microscopic algae.
If the currents are favourable their shell is flushed with fresh water automatically
and the cirria can be used to catch food, otherwise they have to wave with
their cirria to pump the water through the shell. It can be fascinating
to watch the barnacle as it twists and turns its cirria to obtain the best
position when the currents change direction.
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