# Talk:Whale barnacle

Clearly, they induce drag and therefore waste the whale's energy. They are parasites. Drutt (talk) 23:34, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
Source states -some-... anyone have a more reliable source for commensualism? RotubirtnoC (talk) 20:23, 22 October 2015 (UTC)
Footnote 4 appears wrong? The linked article does not appear to refer either to whales or barnacles.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 47.18.208.64 (talk) 04:53, 4 June 2017 (UTC) 

This review is transcluded from Talk:Whale barnacle/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Reviewer: Cwmhiraeth (talk · contribs) 18:28, 25 January 2019 (UTC)

I propose taking on this review and will list my comments here shortly. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 18:28, 25 January 2019 (UTC)


### First reading
The article states "whale barnacles probably diverged [from turtle barnacles] in the Late Pliocene", while the source states "Although a derivation from the turtle barnacles (and especially from the genus Chelonibia) has been proposed, the evolutionary origin of Coronulidae remains to date obscure."
It also says "Whale barnacles appear to have originated from an ancient dispersal of members of the family Chelonibiidae"   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  21:52, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
I would prefer to see the Adulthood section followed by the Development section as it seems more logical to me.
I would think it should read child then adult instead of adult then child   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  21:52, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
Yes, but the whole section is called "Description", and "Development" is not a description. So I think you need a paragraph describing the barnacles before you start talking about their life cycle and development which should be in a separate section. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:25, 26 January 2019 (UTC)
Alright then, done   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  15:33, 26 January 2019 (UTC)
How do the planktonic larvae find a new host?
Some of them seem to imply they drift in the water column until a whale happens upon them but no one expressly says anything   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  21:52, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
Expand C. diadema, C. reginae to Coronula diadema etc the first time you use them in the text.
done   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  21:52, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
Being an arthropod, whale barnacles periodically molt to replace the old, corroded shell.* - Could you check this statement?
Yeah looks like I misread that. Barnacles molt but no one specifically says that whale barnacles molt, and it would be kind of impractical to do so on a moving host now that I think about it   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  21:52, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
Actually I have looked this up in my Invertebrate Biology. The barnacle has a cuticle which exudes the calcareous plates. The plates are not shed but the cuticle is moulted periodically. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:25, 26 January 2019 (UTC)
Yeah I know but the big problem is most generalizations about barnacles come from shore barnacles so I'm not sure how much would apply. Shore barnacles tend to grow independent of their plates so their cuticle is shed if the adult form needs to expand inside the plates from what I understand. Should I just put that? What page is that from by the way, since you already have it I might as well use it?   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  15:31, 26 January 2019 (UTC)
Page 683. You can see the full reference at Coronula diadema. I don't think the whale barnacles are significantly different from shore-based ones, just living on a different substrate. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 19:31, 26 January 2019 (UTC)
Thanks, it's been added   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  03:01, 27 January 2019 (UTC)
"The fleshy appendage exiting the hole is more prominently displayed than in other barnacles." - What fleshy appendage? Please check this too.
done   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  21:52, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
"Whale barnacles typically detach from their host when the skin is shed," - Do whales shed their skin?
yes, but I don't know where that statement came from so it's gone   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  21:52, 25 January 2019 (UTC)   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  21:52, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
"C. diadema has been observed to slough off in areas with high whale traffic, such as migration routes and breeding areas." - I don't think this is quite what the source says.
"considering that the detachment of coronulid shells from their host's skin has been observed along migration routes and especially in cetacean breeding/calving grounds"   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  21:52, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
"Barnacles, to capture food particles in the current, extend their cirri into a fan and then retract them back into the shell to transfer the particles into the mouth." - This sentence is too convoluted.
fixed   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  21:52, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
"First, a membrane ... shorter cycles than adults." - This bit is rather off topic.
It's about how the cirri are used in a section called Cirri   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  21:52, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
"Barnacles have to reorient cirri ..." - you need to rephrase this to clarify what barnacles you are referring to.
it's referring to barnacles in general, as in, barnacles   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  21:52, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
"During copulation, the male fully extends its cirri, and the penis begins a searching movement around its circumference. The pair then begin a series of intense cirral movements which was observed in Cryptolepas as lasting around 32 seconds" - This needs some  expansion/rephrasing. Are the barnacles male and female or are they hermaphrodite?
Looking at it again, it says "animal functioning as". Fixed   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  21:52, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
That's all for the moment I will have another look tomorrow, and I have not yet considered whether the lead is an adequate summary of the rest of the article. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 19:46, 25 January 2019 (UTC)
Some of your responses I find unsatisfactory, but when I read the article again, I will do some light copy-editing to address anything I think important. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:25, 26 January 2019 (UTC)
thanks   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  03:01, 27 January 2019 (UTC)
If we take it that commensalism means that one partner benefits while the other is not appreciably harmed, then it seems odd to state that this is a commensal relationship and then list ways that the whale is adversely affected. It also seems odd to bring this up in the third sentence of the lead and take up so much room on the relationship in the lead. I think you should partially rewrite the lead so as to make it a better summary of what is stated in the main body of the text. At the moment it is a bit of a jumble of facts in no particular order. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 18:54, 27 January 2019 (UTC)
is it better now?   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  20:29, 27 January 2019 (UTC)
Not entirely, but I have made some further changes. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:29, 30 January 2019 (UTC)


### GA criteria
The article is well written and complies with MOS guidelines on prose and grammar, structure and layout.
The article uses many reliable third-party sources, and makes frequent citations to them. I do not believe it contains original research. 
The article covers the main aspects of the subject and remains focussed. 
The article is neutral. 
The article is stable. 
The images are relevant and have suitable captions, and are either in the public domain or properly licensed. 
Final assessment - I believe this article reaches the GA criteria.  Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:29, 30 January 2019 (UTC)

The intro says that whale barnacles can attach (rarely) to turtles. The text proper does not. The intro should not contain info that is not in the text. --Ettrig (talk) 15:02, 30 October 2020 (UTC)