Additions to the barnacle (Crustacea: Cirripedia) fauna of South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to document recent additions to the South African barnacle (Cirripedia) fauna. New species records were obtained by examining accumulated collections of unidentified material in the Iziko South African Museum, as well as via material collected directly by the authors. Fourteen species, none of which are new to science, are added to the known fauna, raising the total number of barnacle species recorded from South Africa by over 20%, from 69 to 83 species. Ten of the additional species are offshore benthic forms and represent deep-water taxa whose ranges are extended into South African waters. The remaining four are coastal inshore or surface-dwelling species, of which three are considered recent anthropogenic introductions. The large number of additions to the fauna can be attributed to a long absence of taxonomic expertise on this group in the region and consequent accumulation of unidentified samples. A high proportion of the deep-water samples examined contained previously unreported species, suggesting that additional sampling of hard abyssal substrata in the region is certain to yield yet more new cirripede records.

Keywords: barnacles, biodiversity, distribution, introduced species, range