L. anatifera. Linnæus. Systema Naturæ, 1767.
Anatifa vel anatifera vel pentalasmis lævis, plerumque auctorum.
—— —— engonata (!). Conrad. Journal Acad. Nat. Sc. Philadelphia, vol. vii, 1837, , Pl. xx, fig. 15.
—— —— dentata (var.) Brugière. Encyclop. Meth. (des Vers), 1789.
Pentalasmis dentatus (var.) Brown. Illust. Conch., Pl. lii, fig. 5.
Anatifa . . . . . . . . . . . . Martin St. Ange. Mem. sur l’organisation des Cirripedes, 1835.
As this, though the commonest species, has never been defined, I give only a few synonyms and references, it being quite impossible to distinguish, in any published description, this species from A. Hillii of Leach; this latter species I recognise under this name only from having authentic specimens from the British Museum, as Leach overlooked every one of the real diagnostic characters.
I have used, in conformity with botanists, the mark of interjection, to show that I have seen an authentic specimen.
L. valvis aut lævibus aut delicate striatis: è duobus scutis, dextro solùm dente interno umbonali instructo; pedunculi parte superiore fuscâ.
Valves smooth, or delicately striated. Right-hand scutum alone furnished with an internal umbonal tooth: uppermost part of peduncle dark-coloured.
Filaments, two on each side.
Var. (a). Fig. 1. Scuta and terga with one or more diagonal lines of dark greenish-brown, square, slightly depressed marks.
Var. (b). (Fig. 1 b.) Carina strongly barbed.
Extremely common; attached to floating timber, vessels, sea-weed, bottles, &c., and to each other, in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean, West Indies, Indian Ocean, Philippine Archipelago, Sandwich Islands, Bass’s Straits, Van Diemen’s Land.
General Appearance. — Valves white, more or less translucent and thick, with a tinge of blueish-grey, from the underlying corium; sometimes brownish cream-coloured, rarely with a tint of purple. Surfaces smooth, with traces of very fine lines radiating from the umbones, sometimes rather plain on the basal part of the scuta. Length in proportion to the breadth of the capitulum variable, owing to the varying degree to which the scuta and terga have their apices produced. Scuta with the occludent margin either considerably curved or nearly straight. The internal tooth of the right-hand scutum, close to the umbo, varies in size and form, being either pointed, square, or obliquely truncated on either side, or it has a notch on the summit; internal basal rim of the scuta either plainly developed or nearly absent. In many specimens (Pl. I, fig. 1), on the scuta, or on the scuta and terga, (and sometimes more on one side of the individual than on the other,) a nearly straight line, running diagonally across the capitulum, of slight, quadrilateral depressions, of a dirty greenish colour, with the edges blending away, is either conspicuously developed, or can only just be discerned. These marks increase in size from the umbones to the margins of the valves. There are sometimes two or even three rows on the scuta. They are formed by the retention of a portion of the chitine membrane, which is cast off the rest of the surface; the margins of the valves are occasionally notched slightly on the line of marks; there is no difference along this line in the underlying corium. Specimens both with and without a barbed carina are thus characterised. Carina; the interspace between the carina and the scuta and terga is not wide. The carina exteriorly, is either convex and smooth, or furnished with knobs or with extremely sharp, long teeth (Pl. I, fig. 1 b); small specimens, with the capitulum under half an inch in length, are generally most strongly barbed. Apex more or less acuminated; width and thickness variable; sides strongly furrowed. Fork (fig. 1 a) generally less wide than the widest upper part of the valve, with the two prongs diverging from each other at less than a right angle; their sharpness and precise form variable; rim between them reflexed (figs. 1 a and b), making a slight notch behind. Peduncle smooth, wrinkled, length in proportion to that of the capitulum varying, from barely equalling it, to six or seven times as long. I have noticed a specimen including mature ova, with a capitulum under half an inch long.
Mr. W. Thompson found that 15 specimens, out of about 200, attached to a vessel which came from New Orleans into Belfast, had their carinas barbed.
Filamentary Appendages; — never more than two on each side, with sometimes only one developed; of variable length; one seated on the flank of the prosoma, under the first cirrus; the second close under the basal articulation of this cirrus, on the posterior face of a slight swelling: these appendages correspond with g and h in Fig. 4, Pl. IX.
Mouth. — Mandibles (Pl. IX, fig. 5), with, as usual, five teeth, all pointing downwards. Maxillæ (Pl. IX, fig. 9), with the lower step of variable width compared to the two upper steps. Cirri; posterior cirri with segments (fig. 26) bearing six pair of spines; intermediate fine spines rather long; first cirrus, anterior ramus longer by only about two segments than the posterior ramus; second cirrus with anterior ramus, with very broad transverse rows of bristles; spine-bearing surfaces considerably protuberant; caudal prominences smooth, rounded.
Size. — The largest specimen which I have seen had a capitulum two inches in length; the longest, including the peduncle, was sixteen inches.
Colours. — Calcareous valves already described. Edges of the orifice bright scarlet orange; basal edges of the scuta, and sometimes of all the valves, with a torn border of orange membrane. Interspaces between the valves dull orange-brown. Peduncle darkish purplish-brown, with the lower part sometimes pale; chitine membrane itself tinted orange; in young specimens, peduncle pale, the colour first appearing in the uppermost part, close under the capitulum; this upper part is often darker than the other parts, and never orange-coloured, as in L. Hillii and L. anserifera. Sack internally dark purplish lead-colour, sometimes with a tinge of orange, darkest under the growing edges of the valves; body of animal pale purplish lead-colour. The four posterior cirri blackish purple; the second, and often the third cirrus, appear as if the colour had been laterally abraded off; these latter cirri have sometimes a tinge of orange. In very young specimens, the cirri are only barred with purple. The ova and the contents of the ovarian tubes are of a beautiful azure blue, becoming yellow in spirits.
In museums a vast amount of difference is seen in the colours of this species, caused by the method of preparation: if dried without having been in spirits, and subsequently kept dry, the orange tint round the orifice is preserved; if kept long in spirits, this is quite lost; but sometimes in specimens in spirits the colour of the membrane of peduncle is preserved and rendered pinker. The colours of the sack and animal are either quite discharged or rendered extremely dark. The valves themselves also often become more opaque. In some specimens well preserved in spirits, the sack and cirri were purplish-brown or lead-colour, tinted with dirty green, or orange, or bright yellow, or brick-red.
General Remarks. — From the foregoing description it will be seen how extremely variable almost every part of this species is. I find, in the British Museum, ten distinct specific names given by Dr. Leach to different varieties, or rather to different specimens, for some of them are undistinguishable. A specimen from the Sandwich Islands, sent by Mr. Conrad to Mr. Cuming, is marked A. engonata.
In looking over a large collection of specimens in a museum, the most distinctive characters appear at first to be the colours, the dentation or barbed condition of the carina, the row of square marks on the scuta and terga, and the more or less produced form of the whole capitulum: all these characters are absolutely worthless as distinctive characters, and blend into each other. In a fresh condition, the colours of this species, and of L. anserifera and L. Hillii are surprisingly alike, though in L. anatifera alone, the uppermost part of the peduncle is dark. As far as I have seen, the smoothness of the valves, together with the presence of a tooth beneath the umbo, on the right-hand scutum, and its entire absence on the left side, (in other species it is smaller on this, than on the right-hand side,) is an unfailing diagnostic mark. I believe this species is always attached to floating objects, though there are some very young specimens in the British Museum, collected by Sir G. Grey, adhering to sandstone, but this may have been buoyed up by some large sea-weed. Mr. Peach has given me the particulars of two instances, in which, after gales of wind, this species, of nearly full size, adhering to apparently freshly broken-off Laminariæ, has been cast upon the coast of England and Scotland.