Conchoderma virgatum

Conchoderma virgatum has a cosmopolitan distribution, being found in all the world's oceans attached to a wide range of drifting and swimming objects,^[3] as well as benthic habitats.^[4]

Conchoderma virgatum is found attached to a wider range of floating objects and nekton than goose barnacles in the genus Lepas. This species seems to have evolved from the same common ancestry as Conchoderma auritum, which occurs on whales, and Alepas which occur on jellyfish.^[3] Most attachments are to inanimate objects such as buoys and the hulls of ships, but it has been recorded as being attached to seaweed, crabs, sea snakes, turtles and whales, and at least thirteen species of fish.^[4] Direct attachment to fish is infrequent, perhaps because of the mucus produced by the skin; in one example, four of the barnacles were attached to a single spine of a spot-fin porcupinefish (Diodon hystrix).^[5] This barnacle also attaches to several species of parasitic copepods, and on one occasion was observed attached to an isopod that was parasitic on an orange filefish (Aluterus schoepfii).^[4]

Like most barnacles, Conchoderma virgatum is a filter feeder. A number of modified legs known as "cirri" can be extended into the water column. These feathery appendages beat rhythmically and catch plankton and small organic particles, drawing them into the mouth.^[6]