Alepas squalicola Lovén, 1844 Anelasma is a monotypic genus of goose barnacles that live as parasites on various shark hosts.
[2] It has been suggested that Anelasma diverged from the ancestor it shares with its current closest relatives (the free-living, suspension-feeding species in the genera Capitulum and Pollicipes) a long time ago.
Unlike most barnacles, it has no shell; the outermost integument is its tough, purplish-black mantle, without any calcareous plates.
The cirri, normally used by barnacles for filtering food items out of the water, are vestigial, being small and unbranched, and have lost their feeding function.
Nutrition is instead extracted from the host through hidden tendrils that extend downwards from the base.