A simplified key to the sessile barnacles found on the rocks, boats, wharf piles and other installations in Port Jackson and adjacent waters
Abstract
It is generally considered by dock authorities that the fouling of ship bottoms by barnacles in the harbour of Sydney, Port Jackson, is heavy in comparison with other localities. Unlike most other organisms which attach themselves to the bottoms of ships, barnacle shells do not necessarily drop off or decay away once the organism in them dies, and docking and scraping are necessary to remove them effectively. This is an expensive process and consequently much attention is being given to the production of anti-fouling substances for use on harbour installations. Actually it is possible that a coating consisting of thousands of barnacles on a wharf pile or other wooden structure under water may itself, by the constant feeding of the individuals, cause considerable reduction in the numbers of swimming larvae of such undesirable wood-borers as the shipworm or Cobra (Teredinine borers).
