Platylepas ophiophila

Platylepas ophiophila is found living in association with several species of sea snake as an ectosymbiont. The barnacle adheres to the snake's skin, and has ribs that penetrate the snake's skin to make the attachment more secure. Nevertheless, the barnacle usually becomes detached when the snake sheds its skin. Barnacles breed by internal fertilisation, so individuals of this species have to be located adjacent to another individual in order to reproduce. Despite the fact that sea snakes are mobile and generally solitary, about half the sea snakes support barnacles. The barnacle may have adopted this lifestyle as a result of intense competition for space on coral reefs, rocks and other hard substrates; the advantages for the barnacle are freedom from predators, freedom from competitors, mobility, a feeding current, and possibly food fragments discarded by its host. There is no discernible benefit to this relationship for the sea snake and the barnacles increase drag in the water, impeding swimming. Snakes may engage in behaviors intended to dislodge the barnacles, such as rubbing against rocks for coastal species or knotting for open water species, [1] This species of barnacle is short-lived because it dies when the sea snake sheds its skin; as the skin is sloughed every four to six weeks, it is presumed that the barnacle completes its life cycle within this period. …