ID these barnacles please

[Tootslg]

These were found in Florida where they are taking out the water out of a lake on the bottom in the mud. 

[ClearLake]

Yep, those are barnacles alright.  Probably one of the species of Balanus, but someone more familiar with Florida barnacles will have to tell you which species.  I know they can be confusing.  Maybe Ken will know @digit

[Paleorunner]

What size are they? They look like giant Balanus....

[Tootslg]

Sizes

[Tootslg]

How old are they?

[ClearLake]

4 hours ago, Tootslg said:

How old are they?

Well, without a specific ID or a specific location, that is a pretty tough guess.  Assuming you found them somewhere in the Sarasota area, I think the Tamiami Formation is common in that area which is Pliocene in age with an age range of 13-2.0 million years ago.  Of course if they are a species that still exists they could be as young as, well, very recent.  

[Plantguy]

Nice finds! I believe they are one of the Chesaconcavus species down here. Yep probably Tamiami Formation--pretty common in places and very cool! 

 

Regards, Chris 

[digit]

Yup. I would have called these balanid barnacles some species of Balanus but it looks like Chesaconcavus tamiamiensis might be a more recent name for these huge acorn barnacles.

 

Definitive word might come from @MikeR

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[minnbuckeye]

Nice finds! I am vacationing in the area and stumbled upon a spot that was loaded with these barnacles. My goal also was to figure out what formation this was. A very grey clay like material, so different from the Tamiami that I normally look through. I picked up one barnacle, but it was the large 'scallops" that I spent my time collecting. So if anyone can explain what the grey clay like material that is loaded with barnacles and scallops is, I would appreciate it!!!!!!!!!!!

[ClearLake]

14 hours ago, Plantguy said:

I believe they are one of the Chesaconcavus species down here

 

11 hours ago, digit said:

but it looks like Chesaconcavus tamiamiensis might be a more recent name for these huge acorn barnacles

 

It would appear you two are correct (which I had no doubt about!) as I dug up the paper by Zullo from 1992 "Revision of the Balanid Barnacle Genus Concavus Newman, 1982, with the Description of a New Subfamily, Two New Genera, and Eight New Species" in which he carved the new genus Chesaconcavus out of the old catchall genus of Balanus and included the C. tamiamiensis from the Pliocene of Florida.  I am not totally familiar with all the barnacle terminology but his description sounds to me like it would fit what I see in the pictures above, although admittedly a lot of the key features in barnacle identification are not readily apparent in the posted pictures or are contained in the inner plates (tergum and scutum) which I do not see in the pictures (and are often absent in fossils).  The size is certainly right with the descriptions in the paper and here are a copy of the figures he posted for this species (#10 is a different species).

 

 

Here is a snippet from Zullo's description which may help Mike @minnbuckeye in his quest:

 

If that is indeed the correct ID, then from what I read they are restricted to the Pliocene and so the age assessment I gave @Tootslg earlier should be in the ballpark.

[digit]

And seems to be co-occurrent with Chesapecten (large scallops) which would corroborate with the comments from @minnbuckeye above.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[ClearLake]

4 hours ago, minnbuckeye said:

So if anyone can explain what the grey clay like material that is loaded with barnacles and scallops is, I would appreciate it!!!!!!!!!!!

FGS Special Publication #36 has a bunch of info in it on SW Florida stratigraphy.  I'm not sure exactly where you are finding these items, but here is a snippet that could describe what you are seeing:

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

[MikeR]

The Chesacavus tamiamiensis are indeed found with Chesapecten in the Lower Tamaimi along with manatee and whale remains.  The Lower Tamiami is phosphate rich and quite different from the overlying Pinecrest Sand member.  In the Sarasota area, it is also called Bed 11 and underlies the mined shelled beds at APAC and the SMR pits.  I like the chart below although I think that Bed 4 should be in the Upper Pinecrest Beds with entire unit, Beds 2-4 aged at Gelasian Lower Pleistocene.

 

 

Mike

Edited April 16, 2022 by MikeR

[digit]

When questions arise, it's good to "have people".

 

Appreciate the confirmation.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Mahnmut]

Hello together,

this one that I acquired as "giant barnacle florida" seems to be similar, is it the same species?

Thanks,

J

 

[ClearLake]

4 hours ago, Mahnmut said:

this one that I acquired as "giant barnacle florida" seems to be similar, is it the same species?

I am not familiar with all the barnacle species of Florida, but yours certainly looks like the one from the paper from what I can tell.  I did not read about any others that grow that big but I can't swear to that.  I'd probably call it that if it were mine with maybe a hint of uncertainty.   Any of the inner plates (#5-8 in plate from publication) present in your specimen?

 

Those are some neat barnacles, I'm going to have to keep my eye out for them on my next Florida fossil trip!

[Mahnmut]

Thanks ClearLake.

Sadly no inner plates present.

Best Regards,

J

[Tootslg]

What are the inner plates?

[Mahnmut]

3 minutes ago, Tootslg said:

What are the inner plates?

The terga and scuta, parts of the lid or operculum of a barnacle that are not fused to the rest of the shell. numbers 5-8 in Clearlakes image above.