MH370: Five things to know about barnacles of the 'lepas anatifera' species

The sight of barnacles clinging onto the flaperon belonging to an aircraft found on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion recently, raised questions over whether the aquatic creatures could unravel the mystery surrounding the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370.

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) Institute of Oceanography and Environmental Director Prof Dr Zulfigar Yassin said the barnacles of the lepas anatifera species (commonly known as pelagic gooseneck or smooth gooseneck barnacles, have a cosmopolitan distribution) are found in the Indian Ocean from the tropical to the sub-tropical regions.

Here are five things you need to know about the barnacles found attached on the surface of the flaperon:

1. The barnacles are of the lepas anatifera species.

2. The barnacles have been attached to the flaperon for about six months to a year.

3. 'Lepas Anatifera' species inhabits regions of the sea where the temperature is between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius.

4. These barnacles are often found in large numbers, attached by their flexible stalks to floating timber, bottles, boats, hulls of ships, floats, rafts and turtles.

5. The sea species belonging to the crustacean group such as crabs, lobsters and shrimps will grow at a rate of one centimeter to two centimeter per year.

Aquatic creature clinging onto the flaperon

Barnacles on the flaperon found on La Reunion

The flaperon with barnacles seen clinging onto which was discovered on the island of La Reunion will be investigated in Toulouse,France. -AP Photo

PHOTO GALLERY: MH370: Investigators probe wreckage for link to missing plane A French newspaper had recently examined the barnacles found attached to a wreckage discovered at Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, reported online portal nzherald.co.nz. Le Journal de l'ile de la Réunion reported that an academician from the Naval School of Brest, France Joseph Poupin who conducted the examination said the barnacles live in warm and hot waters. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which had 239 people on board, en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur mysteriously turned off course and vanished on March 8 last year. No trace of the plane has been found despite a massive search until the recent discovery of the two-metre (six-foot) long piece of wreckage found on the French island of La Reunion. Australian search authorities Friday said they were "increasingly confident" flaperon that washed up on the tiny Indian Ocean island is from missing flight MH370. A technical team will be deployed by Boeing to support the MH370 investigation and the search for the missing plane belonging to its 777-200 plane model.