Barnacle Barnacle A barnacle is a type of arthropod constituting the infraclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and is hence related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine, and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in erosive settings. They are sessile (nonmotile) suspension feeders, and have two nektonic (active swimming) larval stages. Around 1,220 barnacle species are currently known. The name "Cirripedia" is Latin, meaning "curl-footed". The study of barnacles is called cirripedology. Barnacles are encrusters, attaching themselves permanently to a hard substrate. The most common, "acorn barnacles" (Sessilia), are sessile, growing their shells directly onto the
Thomas Barnacle died in 1921, having been nursed during his illness by his estranged wife, Annie. Thomas Barnacle Thomas Barnacle (1846 – 9 July 1921) from Galway, Ireland was the father of Nora Barnacle and father-in-law of the novelist, James Joyce. Barnacle was active in the trade unions from the 1860s to the 1890s. Though illiterate, he had a trade as a well-skilled baker—the family line of work—and was much in demand till the end of his life. He often freelanced beyond the town in such places as Oughterard. He married Annie Honoria Healy in 1881 and they had children Mary, Nora,