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",
Apus (genus) Linnaeus in 1758. The name "Apus" is Latin for a swift, thought by the ancients to be a type of swallow with no feet (from Ancient Greek α, "a", "without", and πούς, "pous", "foot"). Before the 1950s, there was some controversy over which group of organism should have the genus name "Apus". In 1801 Bosc gave the small crustacean organisms known today as "Triops" the genus name "Apus", and later authors continued to use this term. Keilhack suggested (in 1909) that this was incorrect since there was already an avian genus named "Apus" by Scopoli in 1777 . It was