A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia (Volume 2 of 2): The Balanidæ, (or Sessile Cirripedes); the Verrucidæ, etc., etc.Darwin, Charles
Science
A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia (Volume 2 of 2): The Balanidæ, (or Sessile Cirripedes); the Verrucidæ, etc., etc.
Darwin, Charles
Balanidae; Cirripedia
_Dimensions._--The largest British specimen which I have seen was
only .55 of an inch in basal diameter: specimens from Greenland
and the northern United States frequently attain a diameter of
three-quarters of an inch, and I have seen one single somewhat
distorted specimen actually 1.6 of an inch in basal diameter. The
specimens from the glacial deposits of Uddevalla and Canada appear,
on an average, to attain as large or larger dimensions than those
from the United States: on the other hand, the specimens from the
mammaliferous and Red Crag are smaller, the largest being only .35 in
basal diameter. When individuals have grown crowded together, their
length is often twice, and even occasionally thrice, as great as
their greatest diameter; thus I have seen a Greenland specimen 1.6 of
an inch in length, and only .75 in diameter. In the British Museum
there are some arctic specimens, one and a half inch in length, only
half an inch in diameter at the summit (fig. 6 _c_), thence tapering
downwards to a blunt point.
_Scuta_; the lines of growth are but little prominent: the surface
is generally covered by disintegrating membrane. The upper ends
are usually a little reflexed, so that the tips project freely as
small flattened points. Internally, the articular ridge is highly
prominent and somewhat reflexed: there is no adductor ridge, but a
very distinct impression for the adductor muscle: the depression for
the lateral depressor muscle is small, but variable. The _terga_
are rather small: the spur is short, and placed at rather less than
its own width from the basi-scutal angle; the basal margin slopes a
little towards the spur, of which the lower end is rounded or bluntly
pointed in a variable degree. There is no longitudinal furrow, hardly
even a depression. Internally, the articular ridge is very prominent
in the upper part; the crests for the tergal depressores are well
developed, but variable.
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