[2] Lepas anserifera has a shell or capitulum enclosed in six white plates supported by a tough, flexible, orange stalk or peduncle.

The largest plates, the pair of scuta at the stalk end, are quadrangular with longitudinal furrows and a smooth umbonal area.

The head bears the mouthparts consisting of a labrum with fine teeth on the inner margin, a blunt palpus, mandibles and maxillae.

[2] The life cycle is complex and involves a nauplius and a cyprid larval stage during which the animal is mobile and forms part of the plankton.

The feather-like cirri are repeatedly fanned out and then retracted inside the plates to create a current and draw in zooplankton and detritus for consumption.