Scent of a coral: Symbiosis between two new barnacle species and a gorgonian host
Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - 11:07
in Biology & Nature
Two new species of the gorgonian inhabiting barnacles—Conopea saotomensis and Conopea fidelis—have been collected from the area surrounding the historically isolated volcanic islands of São Tomé and Príncipe. The barnacles of this genus are widely spread across the temperate and tropical oceans, but what makes them special is that they occur exclusively in a symbiotic relationship with a gorgonian or black coral hosts. Observations suggest that the barnacles might have a unique ability to recognize and choose a specific host of their preference. The study was published in the open access, peer-reviewed journal ZooKeys.