Balanus balanus found at depths of up to and grows on bedrock, boulders, pebbles and shells. It seems to favour habitats with strong currents and when overcrowding occurs, adopts different shapes to fit the space available. It is often found growing alongside another barnacle, "Balanus crenatus". Other species often found in its vicinity include "Tubularia larynx", "Obelia geniculata", "Pomatoceros triqueter", "Pecten maximus", "Hydroides norvegica", "Chlamys opercularis" and "Sertularia" species. Coralline algae was often present as were the whelk, the European edible sea urchin ("Echinus esculentus"), the great spider crab ("Hyas araneus") and the shore crab ("Carcinus maenas"). The main predator is the
Araneus Theridiosomatidae ("Theridiosoma gemmosum", described by L. Koch, 1877 as "Theridion gemmosum"), Titanoecidae ("Nurscia albomaculata", described by Lucas, 1846 as "Epeira albo-maculata") and Uloboridae ("Uloborus glomosus", described by Walckenaer, 1842 as "Epeira glomosus"). "Epeira cylindrica" was at a time placed in Linyphiidae and is considered "incertae sedis", as is ""Araneus" cylindriformis" . "Epeira" was synonymized with the genus "Aranea" by Leach, 1815, and with "Araneus" by Simon, 1904. Throughout the 19th century, "Epeira" was used as a catch-all genus, similar to the once ubiquitous salticid genus "Attus". However, from 1911, to its last mention in 1957, only very few authors continued