BARNACLES OH MY BABY BARNACLES! If you dont know my greatest love is barnacles, they are staples of the rockyshore, overlooked maginficent tiny beasts! To find out more about why barnacles ARE SO AMAZING, then watch my video all about them. More specifically Semibalanus balanoides is the most common barnacle on UK shores. It can be told apart from the other species by the wiggles in the middle of the shell (apeture), no other barnacles have that exact pattern and have 6 plates that make up the outside shell which you can also count to help you ID.