Family
Coronulidae (Whale barnacles)
Coronula diadema. Photo: (c) Alex Bairstow, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Whale barnacles are barnacles belonging to the family Coronulidae. Whale barnacles attach themselves to the bodies of baleen whales during the barnacles’ free-swimming larval stage. Some sources describe the relationship as an example of obligate commensalism, as when the barnacles neither harm, but benefit by being un harmed by enemies like killer whales (orcas). Others describe the relationship as parasitic. The relationship is parasitic when whales are harmed by the barnacles. Such harm occurs when heavy…
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