TAR PELLETS AND PLASTICS AS ATTACHMENT SURFACES FOR LEPADID CIRRIPEDES IN THE NORTH-ATLANTIC OCEAN

The stalked barnacle, Dosima fascicularis, attaches to small particles of floating debris at settlement, its buoyancy is maintained by secre tion of a gas fined float. Tar pellets <25 mm diameter and angular pla stic fragments were the main attachment materials. Lepas pectinata att ached to similar materials but of larger size, this species does not p roduce a boat. Both species could be stranded on Irish coasts with tro pical seeds, pumice or other oceanic organisms and frequently with pla stics, some of these originating in North America. Early museum materi al in Britain and Ireland suggest tar pellets as substratum for D. fas cicularis were uncommon or rare, The preponderance of cirripedes on ta r (63%) and plastics (21%) over the period 1986 to 1988 suggest a popu lation expansion through an increase of available substrata of correct particle size. Dosima fascicularis, considered to be rare in Irish wa ters in previous years, may have been under-reported. This could be du e to their rapid decay once stranded. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd