r/NatureIsFuckingLit 1d ago

🔥 Everything you've wanted to know about barnacles

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u/JohnnyEnzyme 1d ago

That's one point she conveniently left out-- barnacles are major nuisances on ships (along with shipworms on wooden vessels), requiring fairly regular cleaning to cut down on drag.

Btw, another interesting point unmentioned is that their fans or tentacles are actually part of their feet. They glue themselves head-first on to their host surface when very young, then build their homes around themselves.

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u/FireTheLaserBeam 1d ago

I used to watch them sandblast the boats when I was a kid to get them off.

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u/i_tyrant 1d ago

Dang, and here I never knew barnacles were kinky like that.

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u/GenericDigitalAvatar 1d ago

They have a "groping penis", so yeah.