''Platylepas hexastylos'' is a species of barnacle in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Platylepadidae. It is native to the Indo-Pacific Ocean where it lives as a

symbiont Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasi ...

of such large marine creatures as the

dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest m ...

(''Dugong dugon''), the green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), the

olive ridley sea turtle The olive ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys olivacea''), also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in ...

(''Lepidochelys olivacea''), or the

loggerhead sea turtle The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around in carapace length when fully ...

(''Caretta caretta'').

Ecology

Some species of barnacle settle on either a solid substrate or on a living host, but others are obligate

commensal Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction (symbiosis) in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed. This is in contrast with mutualism, in which both organisms benefit fro ...

s, and this latter group includes ''P. hexastylos''. In a study of stranded turtles on the coast of southern Brazil, ''P. hexastylos'' and '' Chelonibia testudinaria'' were the barnacles most often encountered. Some turtles had as many as three species of barnacle, and ''P. hexastylos'' was often associated with the bay barnacle (''Balanus improvisus''). In general the barnacles were encrusted on the marginal scutes or the rear of the turtle, but ''P. hexastylos'' encrusted securely on soft tissues causing deep wounds. Up to eight ''P. hexastylos'' were found on individual turtles.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4300971 Barnacles Crustaceans described in 1798