Barnacle cement can withstand pressures of up to 5,000 pounds per square inch. The cyprid larva stage creates a biological deadline that dictates permanent attachment failure. Scientists discovered ...

It’s not hard to understand why “Barnacles!” is SpongeBob SquarePants' go-to curse. For beach-goers, the hard-shelled critters can slice tender bare feet or gunk up an otherwise prize sand dollar. For ...

Crabs get a bad rap. After all, people who are into cheerfulness call me “crabby” all the time. But let’s cut them some slack (the crabs, not the cheerful people—forget them), because a lot of these ...

It can be hard to find a sexual partner when you are glued to a rock. Barnacles famously get around this problem by having penises longer than their bodies, so that they can seek out relatively ...

Last week I sent Alex, one of my biologists in training, out to the beach to collect some seaweed for our displays. I told her to bring back anything interesting that she might find. She came back ...

Barnacles have the longest penis of any animal, relative to body size. Adults fuse onto one spot, so this is a necessary adaptation to reach eggs to fertilize. Their penises also taste and smell in ...

Barnacles might look like jagged little rocks, but they have a surprisingly wild sex life. Acorn barnacles might look like jagged little rocks at low tide, but they have a surprisingly wild sex life.

Oversized penises are not always enough to let immobile crustaceans mate. You have full access to this article via your institution. It can be hard to find a sexual partner when you are glued to a ...