REPLICATION OF SUBSTRATE DETAIL BY BARNACLES AND SOME OTHER MARINE ORGANISMS

Abstract

The irregular surfaces of phonograph records were used to study the orientation and the growth of the barnacle Balanus eburneus and the oyster Ostrea virginica. The barnacles oriented themselves with their long axes parallel to the grooves of the record; the oysters oriented themselves at random. The barnacles during growth became grooved on their compartments and ridged on their basal plates in a pattern similar to that of the phonograph record. The shells of the oysters were affected in a similar manner. Furthermore,variations in the normal length-width ratio occurred when the barnacles grew with their long axes perpendicular to the grooves of the record. Other instances of substrate replication were found among fossil barnacles and brachiopods.