Skip to main content

Effects of crowding and wave exposure on penis morphology of the acorn barnacle, Semibalanus balanoides

Marine Biology volume 157, pages 2783–2789 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

Wave action and low population density can strongly reduce the ability of sessile acorn barnacles to find mates and copulate. For Semibalanus balanoides, penis morphology varies with wave exposure and with characteristics of the mating neighborhood. Field experiments were conducted at five intertidal sites on Long Island, New York, USA from July to December 2005 to determine how wave exposure and aggregation structure influence the length, diameter, mass, and number of annulated folds of the penis. Sparsely crowded barnacles had more annulations in the penis and are inferred to have greater ability to stretch. At higher wave exposure, the diameter of the penis was greater, but the mass was not. This study identifies density of crowding as the most important cue that barnacles respond to when perceiving their mating group and details how penis morphology varies in response to wave exposure.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price includes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

References

  • Arsenault D, Marchinko KB, Palmer AR (2001) Precise tuning of barnacle leg length to coastal wave action. P Roy Soc B-Biol Sci 268:2149–2154

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes M (1992) The reproductive periods and condition of the penis in several species of common cirripedes. Oceanogr Mar Biol 30:483–525

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes H, Powell HT (1950) The development, general morphology, and subsequent elimination of barnacle populations after heavy initial settlement. J Anim Ecol 19:175–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertness M, Gaines S, Yeh S (1998) Making mountains out of barnacles: the dynamics of acorn barnacle hummocking. Ecology 79:1382–1394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chan BKK, Hung OS (2005) Cirral length of the acorn barnacle Tetraclita japonica (Cirripedia: Balanomorpha) in Hong Kong: effect of wave exposure and tidal height. J Crustacean Bio 25:329–332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charnov EL (1980) Sex Allocation and local mate competition in barnacles. Mar Biol Lett 1:269–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Charnov EL (1982) The theory of sex allocation. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Crisp DJ, Patel BS (1958) Relation between brooding and ecdysis in cirripedes. Nature 181:1078–1079

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darwin C (1854) A monograph on the sub-class Cirripedia, with figures of all the species. The Balanidæ, (or Sessile Cirripedes); the Verrucidæ, etc. etc. etc. The Ray Society, London

  • Gotelli NJ, Ellison AM (2004) A primer of ecological statistics. Sinauer, Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • Heath DJ (1977) Simultaneous hermaphroditism: cost and benefit. J Theor Biol 81:151–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoch JM (2008) Variation in penis morphology and mating ability in the acorn barnacle, Semibalanus balanoides. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 359:126–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoch JM (2009) Adaptive plasticity of the penis in a simultaneous hermaphrodite. Evolution 63:1946–1953

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klepal W, Barnes H, Munn EA (1972) The morphology and histology of the cirripede penis. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 10:243–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li N, Denny MW (2004) Limits to phenotypic plasticity: flow effects on barnacle feeding appendages. Biol Bull 206:121–124

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marchinko KB (2003) Dramatic phenotypic plasticity in barnacle legs (Balanus glandula Darwin): magnitude, age dependence and speed of response. Evolution 57:1281–1290

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marchinko KB, Palmer AR (2003) Feeding in flow extremes: dependence of cirrus form on wave-exposure in four barnacle species. Zoology 106:127–141

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Munn EA, Klepal W, Barnes H (1974) The fine structure and possible function of the sensory setae of the penis of Balanus balanoides (L.). J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 14:89–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neufeld C, Palmer AR (2008) Precisely proportioned: intertidal barnacles alter penis form to suit coastal wave action. P Roy Soc B-Biol Sci 275:1081–1087

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raimondi PT, Martin JE (1991) Evidence that mating group-size affects allocation of reproductive resources in a simultaneous hermaphrodite. Am Nat 138:1206–1217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasband WS (1997–2007) ImageJ. US National Institute of Health, Bethesda. http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/

  • Schärer L (2009) Tests of sex allocation theory in simultaneously hermaphroditic animals. Evolution 63:1377–1405

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1995) Biometry, 3rd edn. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Stubbings H (1975) Balanus balanoides. Liverpool University Press, Liverpool

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson TL, Glenn EP (1994) Plaster standards to measure water motion. Limnol Oceanogr 39:1768–1779

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogel S (2003) Comparative biomechanics: life’s physical world. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Wethey DS (1984) Effects of crowding on fecundity in barnacles: Semibalanus (Balanus) balanoides, Balanus glandula and Chthamalus dalli. Can J Zool 62:1788–1795

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu R, Levings C, Randall D (1977) Differences in energy partition between crowded and uncrowded barnacles (Balanus balanoides Darwin). Can J Zool 58:559–566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuen B, Hoch JM (2010) Factors influencing mating success in the acorn barnacle, Semibalanus balanoides. J Crustacean Biol 30:373–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Valuable ideas were incorporated into this manuscript deriving from conversations with J. Levinton, D. Padilla, D. Rand, R. Strathmann, J. True, and B. Yuen. This manuscript was meaningfully improved thanks to comments from the associate editor and anonymous reviewers. Help in the field was provided by B. Allen, P. Bourdeau, L. Brown, A. Ehmer, M. Fung, R. Junkins, C. McGlynn, B. Rodgers and E. Woo. Laboratory assistance was provided by E. O’Donnell, W. Wang and B. Yuen. Laboratory work was carried out in the Levinton Laboratory at Stony Brook University and the Functional Ecology Research and Training Lab (FERTL) in the department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University. Logistical support was provided by M. Doall. Assistance with statistical analysis was provided by Paulette Johnson at the FIU Statistical Consulting Center. Funding was provided by a Grant-in-aid-of-research from the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, a Student Research Fellowship from the Crustacean Society and a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation. An earlier version of this manuscript appears as a chapter in the author’s PhD dissertation.

Author information

Author notes

  1. J. Matthew Hoch

    Present address: Southeast Environmental Research Center, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-5245, USA

    J. Matthew Hoch

Authors
  1. J. Matthew Hoch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Matthew Hoch.

Additional information

Communicated by J. P. Grassle.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hoch, J.M. Effects of crowding and wave exposure on penis morphology of the acorn barnacle, Semibalanus balanoides . Mar Biol 157, 2783–2789 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-010-1536-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-010-1536-z

Keywords

  • Jetty
  • Mating Group
  • Wave Exposure
  • Test Volume
  • Penis Length