146.WHAT ARE BARNACLES?
If you have ever been near the sea and walked along the shore where there are piers, rocks, and breakwater walls, then you’ve almost certainly seen barnacles. In fact, the “crust” you saw that was formed on the piers and rocks was made up of millions and millions of barnacles!
A barnacle is simply a small shellfish. When barnacles are hatched, they swim about freely. But when they reach adult state, they no longer move about. They attach themselves to any convenient surface and actually lose their power of locomotion.
145.HOW DOES AN OCTOPUS MOVE?
The octopus belongs to a group of animals called “cephalopods.” The name means “head-footed” because the foot is divided into long armlike tentacles that grow out around the head. The octopus has eight such tentacles.
Even though the octopus belongs to that part of the animal kingdom known as mollusks, it is quite different from clams and oysters, which are mollusks, too. It is more closely related to the squids.
144.HOW DO LOBSTERS GROW?
One of the most curious creatures to be found in the sea is the lobster. It is a “crustacean,” which means a hard-shelled animal, and it is related to the crawfish, the shrimp, and the prawn.
There are three species of true lobsters. American lobsters, which live all along the Atlantic coast from Labrador to North Carolina, are the biggest members of the family. Next in size is the European lobster, which is found on the eastern shores of the Atlantic. The smallest lobster is the African species found off the Cape of Good Hope.
