Vulcanolepas osheai

Vulcanolepas osheai, commonly referred to as O'Shea's vent barnacle, is a stalked barnacle of the family Neolepadidae. This species is endemic to New Zealand.

Vulcanolepas osheai
Conservation status
Naturally Uncommon (NZ TCS)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Thecostraca
Subclass:	Cirripedia
Order:	Scalpellomorpha
Family:	Neolepadidae
Genus:	Vulcanolepas
Species:	V. osheai
Binomial name
Vulcanolepas osheai (Buckeridge, 2000)[2]
Synonyms
Neolepas osheai[2] Volcanolepas osheai[3]

Habitat

A dense fauna (Kiwa anomurans and Vulcanolepas-like stalked barnacles) near East Scotia Ridge vents

This species is a deep-sea stalked barnacle, found in the Brother's Caldera in the Havre Trough, near the North Island of New Zealand (approximately 700 kilometers off the coast of the Bay of Plenty).^[2] The barnacle is found at depths of 1290 to 1500 meters in depth around hydrothermal vents and active underwater volcanoes.^[2]

Description

Vulcanolepas osheai has a peduncle (stalk) to capitulum (shell-casing) ratio of 5:1.^[2][4] The capitulum is made of approximately 8 calcareous plates, with a thin cuticle surrounding it, and is often stained black from manganiferous deposits due to the proximity to the hydrothermal vents.^[2] The peduncle is composed of many rows of small scales (less than 1 millimeter), usually twice as long as wide.^[2][4] In larger specimens, more than 100 rows of scales have been observed.^[2] The cirral setae of Vulcanolepas osheai are associated with filamentous bacterial epibionts, of the phylum Pseudomonadota (formerly Proteobacteria), although they are not endosymbiotic bacteria.^[5]

Isotopic analysis have suggested these barnacles feed on sulphur-oxidizing bacteria, or other planktonic larvae that feed on sulphur-oxidizing bacteria around the vents.^[5]

Etymology

Vulcanolepas osheai is named after Dr. Steve O'Shea, who was curator of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in Wellington, New Zealand.^[2]