Woranop Sukparangsi, Chinnakit Wongkunanusorn, Pisit Sanjan, Sutin Kingtong, and Salinee Khachonpisitsak

DOI: 10.14456/sjst-psu.2021.22

pp. 169 - 180

Abstract

The acorn barnacle (Cirripedia: Balanomorpha) is a sessile crustacean arthropod, distributing around the intertidal areas
of tropical and temperate regions worldwide. Current practices for taxonomic identification are based on shell morphology and
light microscopy, together with the use of scanning electron microscopy for arthropodal characters, which the latter technique
requires complicated procedures. Through the recent technology of confocal light-sheet microscopy, here we demonstrate a clear
description of Caudoeuraphia caudata (Pilsbry, 1916), a new record of its presence in eastern Thailand. This type of microscopy
enables the high acquisition of fluorescent imaging of a whole barnacle’s body and arthropodal structures, including cirri and
mouthpart imaging in three dimensions, with simple procedures for sample preparation and through harboring autofluorescence
of their own barnacle structures. Hence, this technology could potentially be an alternative way for identifying acorn barnacles at
the species-level and visualizing the diversity of these marine arthropods.