Large Barnacle Clusters, also called Barnacles from the Philippines (7-12inch)

Barnacles (Sessilia), like the common barnacle (Semibalanus balanoides), are an order of crustaceans. At first glance, they do not resemble crabs or shrimps, but nevertheless belong to the barnacles (Cirripedia). They settle on various surfaces: on wood, on stones, on shells and even on the skin of whales and the shell of sea turtles. The housing is often white and rock hard. The shape can be cone-shaped, but in densely vegetated populations they can grow into tall columns. They consist of a house of six lime plates, with a lid formed from two lime plates. The larvae of barnacles do not yet have a shell and swim freely. Some barnacles live completely embedded in their host, such as in the inner rim of the shell of the whelk (Buccinum undatum), especially when inhabited by its secondary resident, the common hermit crab (Pagurus bernhardus).