Competition and the morphology, ecology, and evolution of acorn barnacles: an experimental test

Abstract

Recent ideas about the role of competition in the ecology and evolution of acorn barnacles are based partly on relationships between morphology and the outcome of competition for space. One hypothesis is that present distributions and patterns of evolutionary diversification and decline among acorn barnacles reflect the competitive exclusion and replacement of solid-walled forms by those with tubiferous skeletal structure. An alternate view is that large barnacles generally outcompete smaller ones, independent of differences in skeletal structure, with predation and disturbance favoring the ecological and evolutionary success of small barnacles. Field experiments and observations in the Gulf of California suggested that the small, solid-walled species, Chthamalus anisopoma, competitively exlcudes the larger, tubiferous Tetraclita stalactifera confinis on the lower part of the shore. Greater tolerance to aerial exposure appears to allow Tetraclita to occupy a high intertidal refuge above Chthamalus. A common denominator among several cases of competitive exclusion in acorn barnacles is the greater settlement density of the competitive dominant, not its morphology. Morphological considerations alone are insufficient to predict or explain the outcome of competition between barnacle species.