Effects of food availability on growth and reproduction of the deep-sea pedunculate barnacle Heteralepas canci

- The deep-sea barnacle Heteralepas canci was reared at three food levels.
- Growth and ovary development were delayed when food availability was low.
- An individual survived under complete starvation for 167 days.
- This pedunculate barnacle has plastic life history traits.

Sessile animals living on continental shelves or slopes may adjust their growth and reproduction according to temporally and spatially variable food availability, but little information is available on these animals to date. We collected the pedunculate barnacle Heteralepas canci on a continental slope at a depth of 229 m off Cape Nomamisaki in southern Japan. We developed a rearing method for the barnacles and studied their growth and reproduction at different food levels in the laboratory. A total of 136 individual H. canci were fed with Artemia salina larvae and brewer's yeast at three different food levels for 100 days. Both the growth and the ovary development were delayed when food availability was low, whereas the survival rate was lower at the high food level. In addition, an individual survived under complete starvation for 167 days. We concluded that H. canci has plastic life history traits that are adaptive for variable food availability.