It is closely related to Pollicipes polymerus, a species with the same common names, but found on the Pacific coast of North America,[4] and to Pollicipes elegans a species from the coast of Chile.

[2] It is found on rocky shores in the north-east Atlantic Ocean and is prized as a delicacy, especially in the Iberian Peninsula.

[8] A population disjunctly located around the tropical Cape Verde Islands at about 16°N was described in 2010 as a new species, Pollicipes caboverdensis.

[3] It is a filter feeder, living on particles that it can glean from the water passing over its extended cirri; these possess a complex assortment of setae, enabling P. pollicipes to have a varied diet, including diatoms, detritus, large crustaceans, copepods, shrimp and molluscs.

[10] The larvae pass through seven free-swimming stages (six nauplii and one cypris) over the course of at least a month.