Description: A small goose barnacle with a capitulum of up to 2.5 cm in length. The peduncle is short (always shorter than the capitulum) and is mostly brown in colour. It often has an orange tinge at the top, nearest the capitulum. The capitulum is made up of 5 large, opaque, white plates which are strongly striated or grooved. These grooves sometimes extend onto the terga and scuta as spines.

Habitat: Attached to floating objects and washed-up flotsam and jetsam. Sometimes found on ships.

Distribution: Found around all coasts of Britain and Ireland, but rarer on North Sea coasts. Less often recorded than Lepas anatifera.

Similar Species: Could be confused with Lepas anatifera but it is much larger, with an extremely long peduncle (up to 85 cm or more!) which should help distinguish the two species. The plates on Lepas pectinata are strongly striated while the plates on Lepas anatifera are smooth or very finely striated.

Key Identification Features:

• Small goose barnacle with a peduncle that is shorter than the capitulum.
• Capitulum up to 2.5 cm.
• Plates are strongly striated or grooved.

Distribution Map from NBN: Lepas pectinata at National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.

iNaturalist: Lepas pectinata at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.

GBIF data for Lepas (Lepas) pectinata

WoRMS: Lepas pectinata at World Register of Marine Species. Accepted name: Lepas (Lepas) pectinata Spengler, 1793. AphiaID: 733358.

Classification: Biota; Animalia; Arthropoda; Crustacea; Multicrustacea; Thecostraca; Cirripedia; Thoracica; Thoracicalcarea; Scalpellomorpha; Lepadoidea; Lepadidae; Lepas