Barnacles Go To Unbelievable Lengths To Hook Up | Deep Look

Acorn barnacles might look like jagged little rocks at low tide, but they have a surprisingly wild sex life. These crusty little animals — related to crabs and shrimp — have the longest penis of any animal relative to their body size. It's up to eight times the length of the barnacle itself!

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look and hit that bell 🔔 🔔 🔔 to receive our notifications !

DEEP LOOK is an ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

---
When it comes to mating, acorn barnacles have a challenge. How do you find a date when you’re permanently stuck to a rock, pier or boat hull?

Fortunately for them, barnacles are packing the right equipment to get the job done. They have the longest penis of any animal relative to their body size.

But the barnacle’s male organ isn’t just impressive because of its length. It can smell and taste and the tip can feel around to find neighbors that have ripe ovaries inside.

“It is very clear that the barnacle’s penis is really much more of a sensory organ that also delivers sperm,” says Peter Raimondi, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

--- What do barnacles eat?
Barnacles use their long feathery legs called cirri to strain plankton and debris right out of the water. Barnacles are often found in the intertidal zone where the waves churn up seaweed and carrion into small pieces that barnacles can eat.

--- How do barnacles attach to rocks?
Free-swimming mature barnacle larvae called cyprids attach themselves to rocks, piers, boat hulls and other underwater surfaces with a special cement that they excrete from glands between their antennae. The young barnacle then builds a ring of protective shell around itself.

--- What are barnacles related to?
From the outside, barnacles may look more like clams or mussels. But barnacles are actually crustaceans that are more closely related to shrimp and crabs.

---+ Find additional resources and a transcript on KQED Science:

https://www.kqed.org/science/1979151/barnacles-go-to-unbelievable-lengths-to-hook-up

---+ More great Deep Look episodes:

These Feisty Hermit Crabs Brawl Over Snail Shells | Deep Look
https://youtu.be/zCsbTcmtsoA

Skeleton Shrimp Use 18 Appendages to Feed, Fight and ... Frolic | Deep Look
https://youtu.be/lQtU5Cu7GDw

Once a Spawn a Time: Horseshoe Crabs Mob the Beach | Deep Look
https://youtu.be/iYvWssvg1YU

---+ Shoutout!

🏆Congratulations🏆 to Kamea Webster on our Deep Look Community Tab for correctly answering our GIF challenge! The entire structure of the barnacle legs is called the cirral fan!

---+ Thank you to our Top Patreon Supporters ($10+ per month)!

Jessica
Chris B Emrick
Burt Humburg
David Deshpande
Karen Reynolds
Daisuke Goto
Adam Kurtz
Allison & Maka Masuda
Wild Turkey
Tianxing Wang
Companion Cube
Mark Jobes
Blanca Vides
Jana Brenning
Kevin Judge
Syniurge
Aurora
Titania Juang
monoirre
Roberta K Wright
Supernovabetty
Anastasia Grinkevic
KW
El Samuels
Jellyman
Scott Faunce
Mehdi
Nicky Orino
Cristen Rasmussen
Kristy Freeman
Cindy McGill
Laurel Przybylski
吳怡彰
SueEllen McCann
Misia Clive
Shelley Pearson Cranshaw
Joshua Murallon Robertson
Kelly Hong
Caitlin McDonough
Sonia Tanlimco
Nicolette Ray
Noreen Herrington
Silvan
Elizabeth Ann Ditz
Louis O'Neill
Levi Cai
kenneth nguyen !
Shonara Rivas
TierZoo
Jeremiah Sullivan
Wade Tregaskis
Delphine Tseng
Carrie Mukaida
rafael pirondi

---+ Follow Deep Look and KQED Science on social:

https://www.tiktok.com/@deeplookofficial
https://www.patreon.com/deeplook
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kqedscience/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience

---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, California, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, radio and web media.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, the largest science and environment reporting unit in California. KQED Science is supported by The National Science Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Campaign 21 and the members of KQED.

Видео Barnacles Go To Unbelievable Lengths To Hook Up | Deep Look канала Deep Look