Goose barnacle migrate, it was thought that barnacle geese, "Branta leucopsis", developed from this crustacean, since they were never seen to nest in temperate Europe, hence the English names "goose barnacle", "barnacle goose" and the scientific name "Lepas anserifera" (, "goose"). The confusion was prompted by the similarities in colour and shape. Because they were often found on driftwood, it was assumed that the barnacles were attached to branches before they fell in the water. The archdeacon of Brecon, Gerald of Wales, made this claim in his "Topographia Hiberniae". Since barnacle geese were thought to be "neither flesh, nor born of flesh",
Gary Barnacle fluegelhorn player, John Thirkell, for Level 42 is known as The Hen Pecked Horns. Since then, Barnacle and Thirkell provided the horn section to many recordings, and, along with trombonist Peter Thoms, they formed The Phantom Horns, one of the UK's most respected horn sections that appears on a number of recordings from 1987 on. They also recorded a widely acclaimed brass-sample CD "Phantom Horns", which was re-issued by Zero-G as a double CD-rom in 2011. Equally impressive, and more comprehensive, was "Brit Horns" brass-sample CD featuring Gary Barnacle, Peter Thoms and Stuart Brooks, which was re-issued as a double