Barnacles are hermaphroditic, and most of them are cross-fertilized. In the process of reproduction, sperm is sent to other barnacles with flexible tubules to fertilize the eggs. The fertilized egg undergoes metamorphosis and develops from larva to barnacle adult. In tropical waters, such creatures can reproduce and attach all year round, and the species and quantity decrease with the increase of offshore distance.
Extended data:
Barnacles are widely distributed, from intertidal zone to subtidal zone, and they can be found in almost any shallow water area. Barnacles can live in waters with salinity close to body fluids and little change. Barnacles are mostly densely distributed in harbors, ports and coastal waters, attached to natural rocks, docks and dams, ship buoys, seawater pipelines, aquaculture facilities and biological organisms such as whales, turtles and sea snakes.
Due to the attachment of barnacles. The roughness of the part below the waterline of the ship increases, the resistance of the ship increases when sailing, and the self-weight of the ship increases, which leads to the decrease of the sailing speed of the ship and the increase of fuel consumption.