Journal
BIOFOULING
Volume 21, Issue 2, Pages 121-126Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/08927010512331344188
Keywords
barnacle; Balanus amphitrite; phenotypic variation; adhesive plaque; tenacity; silicone substrata; fouling-release
Ask authors/readers for more resources
A quantitative genetics approach was used to examine variation in the characteristics of the adhesive plaque of the barnacle Balanus amphitrite Darwin attached to two silicone substrata. Barnacles settled on silicone polymer films occasionally form thick, soft adhesive plaques, in contrast to the thin, hard plaques characteristic of attachment to other surfaces. The proportion of barnacles producing a thick adhesive plaque was 0.31 for Veridian, a commercially available silicone fouling-release coating, and 0.18 for Silastic T-2, a silicone rubber used for mold-making. For both materials, significant variation among maternal families in the proportion of barnacles producing a thick adhesive plaque was observed, which suggests the presence of genetic variation, or maternal environmental effects, for this plaque characteristic. For the Veridian coating, barnacles expressing the thick adhesive plaque also exhibited significantly reduced tenacity. This represents the first reported case for potential genetic control of intraspecific phenotypic variation in the physical characteristics and tenacity of the adhesive of a fouling invertebrate.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available