Barnacle (Books)

Barnacles are invertebrate creatures mentioned in the How to Train Your Dragon Book series.

Physical Description
Barnacles are marine-dwelling invertebrates which spend their adult life adhered to a surface. The surface can be rock, wood, human structures, or even other living creatures. Despite what their shelled immobile appearance might suggest, barnacles are actually classified in the Phylum Arthropoda, Class Crustacea, making them related to Lobster, Crabs, and Shrimp.

Though not predators of barnacles, mussels and limpets compete with them for space and can crowd them out.

Function
The main function of barnacles in the Book series is as an epithet. In reality, one species of barnacle has enough meat to be edible. Other than that, barnacles can be a nuisance with they encrust on human structures such as ship hulls to cause damage and decreased function.

How to Train Your Dragon
Gobber yells at his Viking Novice students to try and bring them in line.

"NEVER ... in MY FOURTEEN YEARS ... have I come across such a load of HOPELESS BARNACLES as you lot."

- Gobber

Fishlegs exclaims, "Well, blister my barnacles".