Balanus glandula
Darwin, 1854 · speciesAt a glance
Sources13 archives
Databases and archives Balanus glandula's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation2 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility9 336 records↗
OBISOcean Biodiversity Information System4 085 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI3 628 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics3 601 specimens↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinegenome & karyotype↗
Paleobiology DatabasePBDB consortiumfossil record↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Balanus glandula (North American Acorn Barnacle, Common Acorn Barnacle) is one of the most common barnacle species on the Pacific coast of North America, distributed from the U.S. state of Alaska to Bahía de San Quintín near San Quintín, Baja California. They are commonly found in the upper intertidal zone on mussels, rocks and pier pilings. They can obtain oxygen from both water and air. This acorn barnacle is a moderate-sized one with a diameter of up to 22 mm. The shell is formed by overlapping plates and has a calcareous basis. It has more the shape of a cylinder than the shape of a cone. The white operculum has heavily ridged walls. It can live up to ten years. It has been intensely studied in recent years as a model species for linking physical oceanography and population genetics (or phylogeography) surveys. This species was introduced to the shores of Argentina in the 1960s, and has become an invasive species, displacing other barnacles and mussels.Zaixso, H.E., Boraso de Zaixso, A.L., Pastor de Ward, C.T., Lizarralde, Z., Dadón, J.R. and Galván, D. 2015. Capítulo 2. El bentos costero patagónico. In: Zaixso, H.E., A.L. Boraso de Zaixso, C.T. Pastor de Ward, Z. Lizarralde, J.R. Dadón and D. Galván (Eds.), La Zona Costera Patagónica Argentina. Volumen II. Comunidades Biológicas y Geología, Editorial Universitaria de la Patagonia, Comodoro Rivadavia, pp. 43–152.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Habitat & environment2
Compounds documented for Balanus glandula across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile5 classes
Documented compounds80 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| (1S,2R,5R,7R,10S,11R,18S,19S,22S)-7,18-dihydroxy-1,2,6,6,10,17,17-heptamethyl-20-oxahexacyclo[12.10.0.02,11.05,10.015,22.019,22]tetracosa-12,14-dien-21-one | present | NPASS | |
| (2S,3S,4R,5R,6R)-6-[[(3S,4aR,6aR,6bS,8aS,12aS,14aR,14bR)-8a-[(2S,3R,4S,5S,6R)-6-[[(2R,3R,4R,5S,6R)-3,4-dihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)-5-[(2S,3R,4R,5R,6S)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-methyloxan-2-yl]oxyoxan-2-yl]oxymethyl]-3,4,5-trihydroxyoxan-2-yl]oxycarbonyl-4,4,6a,6b,11,11,14b-heptamethyl-1,2,3,4a,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,12a,14,14a-tetradecahydropicen-3-yl]oxy]-3-[(2S,3R,4R,5S)-3,4-dihydroxy-5-(hydroxymethyl)oxolan-2-yl]oxy-4,5-dihydroxyoxane-2-carboxylic acid | present | NPASS | |
| (2S,3S,4S,5R,6R)-6-[[(3S,4aR,6aR,6bS,8aS,12aS,14aR,14bR)-4,4,6a,6b,11,11,14b-heptamethyl-8a-[(2S,3R,4S,5S,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxan-2-yl]oxycarbonyl-1,2,3,4a,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,12a,14,14a-tetradecahydropicen-3-yl]oxy]-3-[(2S,3R,4R,5S)-3,4-dihydroxy-5-(hydroxymethyl)oxolan-2-yl]oxy-4-hydroxy-5-[(2S,3R,4S,5R,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxan-2-yl]oxyoxane-2-carboxylic acid | present | NPASS | |
| (2S,3S,4S,5R,6R)-6-[[(3S,4aR,6aR,6bS,8aS,12aS,14aR,14bR)-8a-[(2S,3R,4S,5S,6R)-6-[[(2R,3R,4R,5S,6R)-3,4-dihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)-5-[(2S,3R,4R,5R,6S)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-methyloxan-2-yl]oxyoxan-2-yl]oxymethyl]-3,4,5-trihydroxyoxan-2-yl]oxycarbonyl-4,4,6a,6b,11,11,14b-heptamethyl-1,2,3,4a,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,12a,14,14a-tetradecahydropicen-3-yl]oxy]-3,4-dihydroxy-5-[(2S,3R,4S,5R,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxan-2-yl]oxyoxane-2-carboxylic acid | present | NPASS | |
| (2S,3S,4S,5R,6R)-6-[[(3S,4aR,6aR,6bS,8aS,12aS,14aR,14bR)-8a-carboxy-4,4,6a,6b,11,11,14b-heptamethyl-1,2,3,4a,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,12a,14,14a-tetradecahydropicen-3-yl]oxy]-3,4-dihydroxy-5-[(2S,3R,4S,5R,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxan-2-yl]oxyoxane-2-carboxylic acid | present | NPASS | |
| (2S,3S,4S,5R,6R)-6-[[(3S,4aR,6aR,6bS,8aS,12aS,14aR,14bR)-8a-carboxy-4,4,6a,6b,11,11,14b-heptamethyl-1,2,3,4a,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,12a,14,14a-tetradecahydropicen-3-yl]oxy]-3-[(2S,3R,4R,5S)-3,4-dihydroxy-5-(hydroxymethyl)oxolan-2-yl]oxy-4-hydroxy-5-[(2S,3R,4S,5R,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)oxan-2-yl]oxyoxane-2-carboxylic acid | present | NPASS | |
| (3R,4aR,6aR,6aS,6bR,8aR,10R,12aS)-3,10-dihydroxy-2,2,6a,6b,9,9,12a-heptamethyl-1,3,4,5,6,6a,7,8,8a,10,11,12-dodecahydropicene-4a-carboxylic acid | present | NPASS | |
| (3R,4aR,6aR,6aS,6bR,8aR,12aS)-3-hydroxy-2,2,6a,6b,9,9,12a-heptamethyl-10-oxo-3,4,5,6,6a,7,8,8a,11,12-decahydro-1H-picene-4a-carboxylic acid | present | NPASS | |
| (3R,4R,4aS,6aR,6aS,6bR,8aR,10R,12aS)-3,4,10-trihydroxy-2,2,6a,6b,9,9,12a-heptamethyl-1,3,4,5,6,6a,7,8,8a,10,11,12-dodecahydropicene-4a-carboxylic acid | present | NPASS | |
| (3S,4aR,6aR,6aS,6bR,8aR,12aS)-3-acetyloxy-3-hydroxy-2,2,6a,6b,9,9,12a-heptamethyl-10-oxo-1,4,5,6,6a,7,8,8a,11,12-decahydropicene-4a-carboxylic acid | present | NPASS |
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Balanus glandula has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Balanus glandula carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
How it livedPBDB
Record type13 421 records
Origin
Range
Depth
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions10 of 24 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| CASlocation not on record | 567 |
| Washington, US | 149 |
| Santa Barbara Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 131 |
| Victoria, CA | 49 |
| IBIOMARlocation not on record | 18 |
| Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record | 10 |
| Stanford Universitylocation not on record | 8 |
| Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, Department of Invertebrate Zoologylocation not on record | 8 |
| University of Victorialocation not on record | 8 |
| Edmonton, CA | 6 |
| Toronto, CA | 4 |
| University of Guelph, Centre for Biodiversity Genomicslocation not on record | 4 |
| Los Angeles, US | 4 |
| Hakai Institutelocation not on record | 3 |
| Helsinki, FI | 3 |
| 3 | |
| Auckland, NZ | 3 |
| Stockholm, SE | 2 |
| Centre for Biodiversity Genomicslocation not on record | 2 |
| Paleontological Research Institutionlocation not on record | 2 |
| Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 2 |
| Florida Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 1 |
| Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (Zoological Collections)location not on record | 1 |
| Denver, US | 1 |
Where the DNA of Balanus glandula was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.