[Taxacom] barnacles (was: Tortoise self-rafting sea voyage)

[Ken Kinman]

Dear All,
     Actually this got me to wondering if there are many barnacles which 
have widespread distributions across different oceans.  Doesn't seem to be a 
whole lot of them, and most barnacle species seem pretty particular about 
the temperatures and depths that they prefer.  And there is also 
interspecific competition for prime locations which also limits 
distributions.  Of the widespread species, I wonder how many were spread by 
man (on the hulls of ships) and how many spread VERY long ago (before ships 
or even the origins of mankind itself) on the bottom of tree trunks which 
can sometimes float across whole oceans (such as Chile to Tasmania).

      I ran across a paper on barnacles surviving on an oil platform which 
was towed from Japan to New Zealand back in the 1975, and most of those are 
from genera with species that tend to tolerate wider ranges of habitat.  Too 
bad we don't how many other barnacle species were attached in north 
temperate waters, but didn't survive the trip as they passed through warm 
tropical waters:

http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjmfr/1979/14.php

      There was also an exotic species of Megabalanus that was found in 
Charleston harbor several months ago (last fall or winter).  I wonder if it 
will be able to survive there.
      ---Ken
*********************************
>From: "Michael A. Ivie" <mivie at montana.edu>
>To: releech at telusplanet.net
>CC: TAXACOM <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
>Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Tortoise self-rafting sea voyage
>Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 11:12:58 -0600
>
>Why has no one mentioned that the obvious mechanism for barnacles
>becoming so widespread is that they are carried from place to place on
>floating tortises? :-)
>
>releech at telusplanet.net wrote:
>
> >Gentlemen! Enough! Enough!  We need levity.
> >
> >John, your first sentence below almost defies English Grammar.
> >
> >Actually, the tortoises were taken to the Indian Ocean Island locations 
>about
> >30,000 years ago, about the same time, and by the same people, who 
>peopled
> >Australia.  The tortoises were released, allowed to breed, and meant to 
>be food
> >for later visits to the islands.
> >
> >Robin Leech
> >
> >
> >

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