AVS 57th International Symposium & Exhibition
    Marine Biofouling Topical Conference Monday Sessions
       Session MB+BI-MoM

Invited Paper MB+BI-MoM3
Reversible Adhesion in Barnacle Cyprids: the Weak Link in Surface Colonisation?

Monday, October 18, 2010, 9:00 am, Room Navajo

Session: Understanding Marine Biofouling
Presenter: A.S. Clare, Newcastle Univ., UK
Authors: N. Aldred, Newcastle Univ., UK
I.Y. Phang, MESA+ Institute for Nanotech. and Dutch Polymer Inst., Netherlands
T. Ekblad, Linköping Univ., Sweden
O. Andersson, Linköping Univ., Sweden
B. Liedberg, Linköping Univ., Sweden
G.J. Vancso, MESA+ Institute for Nanotech. and Dutch Polymer Inst., Netherlands
A.S. Clare, Newcastle Univ., UK
Correspondent: Click to Email
Reversible or temporary adhesion allows barnacle cyprids to explore surfaces before they commit to permanent settlement. As such this scarcely studied system is an obvious point of attack for fouling control. The remarkable paired antennules of the cyprid bear attachment discs; hairy adhesive structures that enable the cyprid to walk over surfaces in a stilt-like fashion while resisting detachment by hydrodynamic forces. A proteinaceous secretion at the surface of the disc has been postulated to function as a ‘temporary adhesive’. Here evidence is presented that suggests the antennular secretion is related to the adult settlement pheromone – the settlement-inducing protein complex – and that it functions as a reversible adhesive, but in a hybrid wet/dry adhesive system somewhat akin to insect reversible adhesion. While a complete characterisation of the antennular secretion remains an aim, the application of surface analytical techniques (atomic force microscopy and imaging surface plasmon resonance) and direct measures of cyprid behaviour, go some way to providing a mechanistic understanding of why cyprids settle at low rates on certain surfaces, which can be applied to future developments in antifouling technology.