Vulcanolepas osheai, commonly referred to as O'Shea's vent barnacle, is a stalked barnacle of the family Neolepadidae. This species is endemic to New Zealand.
This species is a deep-sea stalked barnacle, found in the Brother's Caldera in the Havre Trough, near the North Island of New Zealand (approximately 700 kilometers off the coast of the Bay of Plenty).[1] The barnacle is found at depths of 1290 to 1500 meters in depth around hydrothermal vents and active underwater volcanoes.[1]
Vulcanolepas osheai has a peduncle (stalk) to capitulum (shell-casing) ratio of 5:1.[1][3] The capitulum is made of approximately 8 calcareous plates, with a thin cuticle surrounding it, and is often stained black from manganiferous deposits due to the proximity to the hydrothermal vents.[1] The peduncle is composed of many rows of small scales (less than 1 millimeter), usually twice as long as wide.[1][3] In larger specimens, more than 100 rows of scales have been observed.[1] The cirral setae of Vulcanolepas osheai are associated with filamentous bacterial epibionts, of the phylum Pseudomonadota (formerly Proteobacteria), although they are not endosymbiotic bacteria.[4]
Isotopic analysis have suggested these barnacles feed on sulphur-oxidizing bacteria, or other planktonic larvae that feed on sulphur-oxidizing bacteria around the vents.[4]
Vulcanolepas osheai is named after Dr. Steve O'Shea, who was curator of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in Wellington, New Zealand.[1]