[1][2][3] Some species of goose barnacles such as Lepas anatifera are pelagic and are most frequently found on tidewrack on oceanic coasts.

Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II examined barnacles and noted no evidence of any bird-like embryo in them, and the secretary of Lev of Rozmital wrote a very skeptical account of his reaction to being served the goose at a fast-day dinner in 1456.

These glands secrete protein-based adhesive to make attaching the barnacles to fixed or mobile items/entities possible.

[7] In Portugal and Spain, P. pollicipes is a widely consumed and expensive delicacy known as percebes, which are harvested commercially in the Iberian northern coast, mainly in Galicia and Asturias, but also in the southwestern Portuguese coast (Alentejo), and are also imported from other countries within its range of distribution, particularly from Morocco.

To eat them, the diamond-shaped foot is pinched between thumb and finger and the inner tube pulled out of the scaly case.