Charles Darwin and Joseph de Bosquet – Brothers in barnacles: How diminutive crustaceans helped shape a theory

Ten years after his return to England on board ‘The Beagle’ in 1836, Charles Robert Darwin (1809–1882) started collecting, dissecting, describing and interpreting both extant and fossil acorn and goose barnacles (cirripedes). In all, he spent eight years on this animal group and, between 1851 and 1855, published four authoritative and admirably illustrated volumes on these sessile crustaceans; a highly valuable source of information, even to the present day. The Maastricht pharmacist, Joseph Augustin Hubert de Bosquet (1814–1880), who also was a well-versed collector and student of Late Cretaceous fossils from the nearby St Pietersberg, corresponded with Darwin on the subject of cirripedes between 17 December 1852 and early November 1856. In addition, these gentlemen exchanged monographs, manuscripts, engravings and specimens. At a time when Darwin was finally trying to come to terms with his ‘wretched’ barnacles, he much appreciated the support and understanding coming from Maastricht and his letters clearly show the respect he had for his fellow barnacle worker. In fact, Darwin’s barnacle work strengthened his resolve to publish his 1859 masterpiece, On the Origin of Species. Current studies of cirripedes in the Maastricht area seek to complement de Bosquet’s pioneering work and document in more detail the stratigraphic ranges of the various taxa as well as their relationships with species elsewhere in Europe as well as overseas.