Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 May 2009
Previous studies on cirral activity in thoracican cirripedes have established two basic patterns of feeding action. In the Lepadomorpha, the Verrucomorpha, and the chthamaloid and coronuloid Balanomorpha, prolonged cirral extension provides the basis for captorial feeding. The cirri are held extended and are used, individually or collectively, to capture small live prey. Investigations on these species have yielded no evidence of sustained rhythmic cirral activity as a component of food collection among a variety of species (Crisp, 1950, 1967; Southward, 1957, 1962, 1967; Mori, 1958, 1961; Southward & Southward, 1958, 1967; Barnes & Reese, 1959; Howard & Scott, 1959; Patel, 1959; Crisp & Southward, 1961; Southward & Crisp, 1965; Bieri, 1966; Jones, 1968; Stone & Barnes, 1973; Klepal & Barnes, 1975).