Meeting Abstract
Sea turtle barnacles (Chelonibia testudinaria) develop through multiple larval stages in the plankton. At the final cyprid stage, the larvae search for a suitable substratum on which to settle, metamorphose, and grow into adulthood. While the larvae of many barnacle species have been successfully reared and settled in the laboratory, there has been little attention or success in maintaining adult stages ex situ. To address this gap and make possible studies on live adults of largely inaccessible barnacle species, we devised two apparatuses utilizing rotating PVC pipes to facilitate barnacle attachment and growth, the settlement-promoting ‘larvulator’ and a grow-out tank, the ‘maturation spinner’. The larvulator operates by a motor driven, double gear system that rotates a rack of six concurrently revolving pipes within a circular chamber; whereas, the maturation spinner employs a belt and pulley system to spin pipes about their central axis, upright in a standard table-top aquarium. Each device operates on the principle of generating the effects of flow in a static chamber without needing to pump water. In the case of the epibiotic barnacle C. testudinaria, the PVC pipes serve as a synthetic mobile host, moving through the water. We demonstrate that these devices can be used to achieve larval settlement and growth with C. testudinaria. Settlement rates of this species on PVC pipes was consistently low relative to the quantity of larvae supplied, but typical settlement rates for this species remains unknown. Growth rates were similar or reduced relative to wild populations, but we were able to maintain adults on pipes in excess of two years. Increased understanding of larval and adult barnacle diets may improve outcomes but our methodology presents a viable way to grow adult barnacles in the laboratory.
