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Balanomorph barnacles are conspicuous and numerous animals in marine environments,and play an important role in the marine ecological system.Moreover,they are major components of the fouling community.In China,there are 6 families,25 genera and 110 species of the balanomorpha barnacles in the coastal waters.The major species are Balanus amphitrite amphitrite,B.reticulatus,B.uliginosus,B.albicostatus,B.trigonus,Chirona amaryllis,Megabalanus rosa,M.tintinnabulum tintinnabulum,Euraphia withersi,Tetraclita squamosa squamosa.Among them,B.amphitrite amphitrite is the most dominant species in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea;and B.reticulatus in the tropical and sub-tropical waters(i.e.the East China Sea and the South China Sea).B.uliginosus mainly occurs in the estuarial waters with low salinity,but B.trigonus,Megabalanus rosa and M.tintinnabulum tintinnabulum are found in waters with high salinity.Environmental factors play an important role in their growth,development,reproduction,settlement,distribution,and morphological appearance of acorn barnacles.From the north to the south Chinese coast,the breeding season and settlement period of acorn barnacles extend greatly.Barnacle larvae have six nauplius stages followed by a non-feeding cyprid stage,which is the larval stage to find a suitable place for settlement.For larval culture,microalgae Platymonas helgolandica,Chaetoceros muelleri and Platymonas subcordiformis are commonly used to feed the larvae.Cyprids can be stored at 4—8 ℃ for about one week.Barnacle cements are composed mainly of protein subunits.The primary and secondary cements are similar in components and properties.Acorn barnacles are apparently and appropriate testing organisms used in the antifouling study and ecological science research.Species interactions between acorn barnacles and their roles in the benthic community should be elucidated with more attention.Moreover,further research work should be focused on the aspects of taxonomy,larval recruitment and settlement,barnacle cement and phylogeny at the molecular level to advance knowledge in this research area. |
